Carnival Days
by leafyaki
Summary: It was simply that. A not-date. Which managed to frustrate pretty much everyone around them. An Allen/Lavi story. 'Their cabin moved upwards, soon giving them a view of the whole carnival...'
1. Act I: Two Less Lonely People

**Act****I**: Two Less Lonely People

**Summary**: As all stories begin, it is a fine spring night. And as all stories begin, there is a beautiful princess and a handsome prince…ah, who are we kidding? Two silly adolescent boys take the stage and frustrate everyone around them in the process of a simple telephone conversation.

**Disclaimer**: This applies to the whole story – I do not own D Gray –Man, and will never assume that I do.

* * *

Kanda, feeling exceptionally refreshed from a particularly good kendo session, marched into his room in a good mood, only to have it spectacularly destroyed by his douche of a roommate chatting sappily on his mobile phone.

Of course, he could have just simply ignored it because there was never a time when the rabbit was not being stupid and sappy. But no, the rabbit had to go and sit on his bed. Actually, no, the rabbit had to have the nerve to lie on his bed, his one eye closed in bliss as he murmured on the phone to his girlfriend like a girl himself.

"Talking to your lesbian girlfriend?" He scowled, internally smirking as Lavi jumped in surprise and smacked his head on the top bunk.

"Ahh, Yuu!" He yelped, free hand reaching up to massage the tender spot on his head. "Welcome home. What? Ahhh, yeah, that was just my roommate, yeah, he came back." Kanda sighed and gathered his materials for a shower, deciding to deal with the fool of a bunny later.

"Is he always that much of a jerk?" Lavi said in an amused tone. He raised his eyebrows at that and shot a grin in Kanda's direction, laughing when Kanda replied with a finger strategically raised. "Well done, you, you guys haven't even met yet and he hates you already."

Growling, Kanda stomped to their shower room and slammed the door particularly loudly in an attempt to disrupt the love fest happening just outside. It was sickening. He will find out from the rabbit later just who the hell he was talking to.

.

"Yeah, and then Mana was like, "I have a date!" and he was running all over the house looking for his clothes, and Lavi, it was hilarious!" The teen snickered as he leaned back on his chair then spun around on it. "Hmm? Oh, I think it's somebody from work, umm…her name's Maria? Yeah, Mana had such a goofy look on his face when he was talking about her. Kinda gross actually, I don't want to think about my dad having sex- Lavi! Don't laugh at me!" Allen groaned, partly from the nausea induced by spinning on the chair. Hopping off it, he flopped onto his bed, staring up at the artificially starry ceiling.

"Uh huh, and-" He paused at a sudden yelp from the other side, and something about the other voice he could hear grated on his nerves. "I'm not a girl, is your friend always this much of a jerk?" He smiled at the laughter and response from the other side. "Same here, same here. Anyway, so I was thinking, really now, how have you been? I haven't met you in a while…"

.

Kanda took his time with the shower and honest-to-God thought that, by the end of it, he would be free from sappy-rabbit torture. He had been through this countless times. Always, after a phone call from a certain someone, the teen would sigh, lovesick, and latch onto Kanda, swooning in a "I'm in luuuuuurve" manner and Kanda will have absolutely no choice but to swing his fake katana threateningly. Oh, but how he missed having a real katana! Stupid university and their stupid rules.

Alas, it was not to be as he stepped out of the shower. If anything, it had gotten worse.

The bunny had shot up in bed, banging his head a second time, only this time he didn't seem to care. He was wide-eyed and he seemed to have stopped breathing. Kanda frowned and listened carefully to the one-sided conversation.

"What? Yeah…yeah…yeah, that carnival, right, it's just out of town…Uh huh…oh, for sure!" At this, he pumped a fist into the air and jumped out of bed, scrambling for his binder. "One in the afternoon works fine for me, dearest," he chuckled, scribbling down details furiously. "Near the front gate, that work okay for you? Mm hmm, yeah, okay…"

.

"So, um," Allen blushed furiously. At that precise moment, Mana peeked into his room and walked in, perching expectantly at the end of his son's bed. The boy scowled and tried to shoo him away, to no avail.

"What? Oh, nothing, sorry about that. Yeah, so…okay, one o'clock this Saturday, yeah? Okay, I'll," he looked up at the increasingly smug grin on his father's face, "ah, Lavi, I'll have to go, talk to you later, okay? …Yeah, take care!" And he hurriedly ended the call.

He sat up and frowned at the man. "Mana…" He said warningly.

Mana only grinned. "Tell me all about it, son," he cooed and at the sight of Allen about to protest, he narrowed his eyes. Allen groaned and knew he would only be hounded throughout the week if he didn't spill all.

"It's nothing, dad, it's not even a date!" He whined. "I'm just going to hang out with Lavi…"

.

"Yuu…Yuu! YUU! I'm going on a date! I, I was asked on a date! I, oh shit, what should I wear! Holy shit holy shit-"

Kanda smacked Lavi's head with a file, if only to shut him up. "I get it, you idiot! And it's, what, five days to Saturday? Idiot, you have time!"

"But you don't understand, Yuu, I'm going on a date! Well…" He paused and calmed down slightly. "He didn't exactly say that it was a date…"

.

"I mean," he blushed, "I didn't say it's a date or anything. Erm. Lavi probably won't see it as a date, he probably just sees it as two friends hanging out, right? And it's not even romantic, it's just the carnival and it's just rides and stuff and…oh shit, Mana, what do I wear!"

.

"I guess…maybe he doesn't see it as a date, huh?" Lavi sighed and for some reason, a depressed redhead irked Kanda more than a cheery redhead did.

"While I don't particularly care about your romantic life…"

Kanda paused, something tugging at his mind. Lavi's eye widened. They looked at each other.

"He?" Kanda narrowed his eyes.

Lavi laughed nervously. "Well, uh, guess it's about time I told you I am, uh, bi and yeah, I like…this guy?" He laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Um, you don't care, right, Kanda?" He looked up hopefully at his stoic friend, eye wide and pleading.

Kanda growled and thought carefully. He honestly didn't give a fuck, and wanted to drag it out just to see the rabbit's face fall, but in the end, it's not worth the trouble afterwards. That stupid rabbit would probably blubber and cling to him and make sure he doesn't get any work done. God. "Whatever. So you _are_ as gay as I thought you were."

Lavi grinned. "Yeah, suppose I am. So! Anyway, Yuu, what do I do!"

.

"Oh god, I mean, it really is just rides and stuff, and he doesn't see it as a date anyway, so, yeah, I should just wear maybe a t-shirt and jeans. Yeah, that's it, I'm a guy, what on earth was I thinking, hahaha…ha…"

Allen's entire body drooped and he sighed into his knees. Mana, valiantly controlling his laughter, leaned over and patted his son on the shoulder.

"Oh, Allen. I won't say 'I told you so' but…well, fine, I told you so," Mana laughed when Allen glared weakly at him. "Serves you right to make fun of me and Maria! So, right, onto serious business, my advice is…"

Allen leaned forward, eager despite himself to hear the advice.

"It's a very serious thing, this first date. I mean, sure, you're already friends and all, but dates give a completely different impression, so you must be careful…" Allen nodded seriously and looked like he almost wanted to take notes on this. Mana had a far-away look on his face, fondly remembering his first date.

"So I can only tell you…" Allen leaned forward even more, meeting his father's eyes, almost holding his breath in anticipation of a wiser man's knowledge. He missed the twitch on the man's lips.

"What you told me last week…just be yourself," he finished proudly and smugly and Allen, not wanting to hear such generic, shitty advice (nevermind the fact that it first came from him) could only groan and flop back onto his bed.

"Gah, Mana!"

Mana laughed. "I'm sorry, son, but it's true, you know, nothing can prepare you better than to just go with your true self, alright?" He patted Allen's knee and stood up, walking to the door. "Dinner in half an hour, go shower before that." He waited until Allen grunted in assent before going down to finish dinner.

Allen sighed and stared up at the ceiling, heart thumping as he thought about the date – no, not-date, he said to himself firmly – and wondered about how best to prepare for it.

"Five days…"

.

"Argh, get off me, you stupid bunny! Stop clinging to me, damn it!" Kanda pushed at the arms that were resolutely attached to him.

"But Yuu! I need help!" Lavi whined. "I mean, okay, sure, it's not a date, but I want to make a good impression!"

"Gah! Listen, idiot, just go as you always do. Your stupid headband and your stupid scarf. I think he is blind, but whatever, he probably likes you the way you are if you're going on a stupid date, now GET OFF ME!" Kanda finally succeeded in pushing the arms off and placed himself as far away as possible, so that Lavi cannot ambush him a second time.

"But that's what people always say! It's useless! Yuu, Yuu! Where are you going? Yuu!"

Lavi sighed as Kanda dashed out of the room, leaving him alone to wallow in his misery. He trudged back to Kanda's bed and fell backwards into it, sighing again despite the euphoria the date is supposed to induce in him.

"Five days…"

.

And on opposite sides of the town, two boys groaned simultaneously as the implications of their not-date hit them hard.

* * *

**Notes**:

So, guess who's posting so soon after Allen/Lavi week is over? That's right. A plot bunny refused to let go of me. This is just a (hopefully) funny and sweet little piece about a not-date two boys go on.

This will likely only be…a few chapters? I'm not sure. I haven't written out everything yet. I only know there's this idea of a carnival, and a date, and two silly boys fumbling through it.

Oh wait, not-date, that's right. This sort of high school/university AU fic definitely does not hold a candle to, say…**CherrySpringer**'s Fate or **Ritachi**'s Kiss!Kiss!LoveYou,Baby! but I hope it manages to make you smile at least a little bit.

If I'm up to it, I might write out about the whole universe that they're in. (:

Let me know what you think. Cheers! And thank you if you've read this far!


	2. Act II: Enter The Players

**Act**** II**: Enter The Players

**Summary**: A long school week begins and ends. It could have been just like any other school week, but the two boys were being far too obvious. Add the curious, the gossipy, the forlorn and the plain pissed-off, and we have a drama unfolding in the perfectly normal lives of two teenagers.

Sometimes it's all in your mind, and sometimes it really _is_ a conspiracy.

* * *

_Monday_

Allen sighed as he walked into homeroom. It was the start of another school week, made worse by the fact that he had something to look forward to at the weekend, which only meant that time would crawl by slowly, as time always did. He walked to his desk and did not notice the person approaching him until he was beside the window.

"Good morning, Allen!" Lou Fa popped up beside him and greeted him cheerily. Allen started but recovered quickly.

"Ah, good morning, Lou Fa," Allen said, smiling at the girl. "How was your weekend?"

"O-oh, it was fine, thanks!" She said with a slight stutter to the oblivious boy. Allen sat down in his seat, inviting her to sit on the chair beside his. Lou Fa hurriedly took the seat and glanced behind her. In the other corner of the room, Ri Kei and Shi Fu laughed and gave her a thumbs-up. She swallowed, mustered up her courage and turned back to face Allen, who was busy taking out his books for first period and hence did not see the exchange.

"Um, Allen?" She asked nervously.

"Ah, yes?" Allen smiled at her and Lou Fa stuttered again. She had to swallow before continuing.

"Erm…I was, was just wondering, if you're free this Saturday to, to, to, to just hang out?" She said, aiming her words at the floor.

"…Eh?" Allen was perplexed. Almost impossibly, Lou Fa blushed even harder and her eyes widened.

"Err, I mean, I mean, you know! You, me, and Ri Kei and Shi Fu, too! Uhm, uh, you know, not just the two of us!" Lou Fa said in a panic. In the other corner of the room, the two boys groaned and smacked their palms to their foreheads.

"Oh…that's very kind of you, Lou Fa," Allen smiled kindly and Lou Fa felt her blush deepen. "But…I'm afraid I have something on this weekend."

"E-eh? What? Oh, oh, I mean, that's okay! Ah hahaha, I should have known you'd have a date already, ah ha, ha ha…" Lou Fa rubbed the back of her head and was prepared to bolt. Then she noticed the silence on Allen's side.

He was…he was blushing. Hard. And looking at her in shock.

"Who…I mean, I, it's not a date!" He spluttered.

"Eh? Oh, ah, yeah, okay, it's not a date! I mean, yeah, you can hang out with whoever you want to hang out with, ah hahaha, eh…oh, uh, I have to go now, talk to you later, Allen!" And before Allen could say another word, she dashed off to where Ri Kei and Shi Fu were standing and looking at her with concern. Allen blinked at the sudden departure.

He sighed and willed his blush away. If he kept this up, Lou Fa and the others would find out soon, about the not-date that was consuming his mind.

However, thankfully, Mr. Tiedoll walked in at that moment and he pushed the thought firmly away as the teacher began to take the attendance.

.

_Tuesday_

Lavi stared straight ahead at his professor. If Kanda didn't know any better, he'd say Lavi's crush was on the professor and not the guy he was talking on the phone with just two nights ago. Some guy with a weakling girly name like 'Ellen' or something.

The professor was going on and on about biblical history, though he probably knew full well that half the girls enrolled in his class just to be able to legitimately ogle over him in class. Lavi might have joined the ogling gang had he not already have someone he's devoted to.

As it was, he was simply staring at Professor Mikk's clothes.

_But, dress shirts probably don't look good on me, and are they even suitable for a c__arnival anyway? Well, and dress pants don't look that great either in such a place. Maybe I should go with jeans? But jeans are so everyday, but then again, if I'm supposed to go as myself…_

Chewing on his pen distractedly, wholly absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't notice the giggles coming from the girls as Professor Mikk stepped closer to his seat. He did notice, however, when a tanned hand planted itself neatly in the middle of his notebook. He blinked and looked up at the smirking man.

"Mr. Lavi. I wonder, could you tell me more about the Noah's Ark, and the different scholastic interpretations of that specific part of the Bible?" The man fairly purred, his golden eyes fixed on Lavi's bright green eye.

Lavi suppressed his uneasy shiver at the sight of the man's smile and groaned quietly, before quickly slapping on a smile and grinning cheekily up at him.

"Certainly, Prof. So, while the devoted might believe that it is a sign of punishment from God, scholarly examination and research has led to the finding of several discrepancies that dispute this religious claim. Firstly…"

As he went on about the several different views, he never thanked God more for his photographic memory and the ability to absorb information even while he was not paying attention.

.

_Wednesday_

"It _is_ very suspicious," Lenalee said with a firm nod.

She was sitting in the crowded cafeteria with Lou Fa and Fou. All three girls were looking in the direction of another table across the room from theirs, where Allen sat munching his sandwich mechanically, a dreamy, absent look on his face. Shi Fu and Ri Kei were sitting with him and attempting to get his attention to no avail. Lenalee frowned and returned to her own lunch, tilting her head at the other two girls.

"If I have to guess, I'd say it's definitely a date," she said confidently. Fou snickered slightly as Lou Fa's face fell. She patted her back in a supposedly comforting way, though to Lenalee it looked more like she was beating the heck out of the poor girl. Lou Fa didn't even seem to notice, absorbed as she was in shredding her napkin.

"Oh darling, it really isn't you. Walker is so gay that he probably won't pay any attention even if you flash your boobs at him," Fou said with a sigh, a grin twisting her lips. Lenalee winced at the bluntness of her statement.

"Well," she said gently, trying to soften the blow, "it could be so, Lou Fa. I don't think he's had a girlfriend the whole time he has been in school, and he _is_ pretty oblivious to the letters he gets for Valentine's. And he doesn't seem to notice the number of admirers he has now that he's hit puberty. _And_ he was hanging out all the time with Lavi last…year…"

All three girls simultaneously widened their eyes and shot their gazes in Allen's direction again. Shi Fu and Ri Kei seemed to have managed to get Allen's attention and Allen was blushing progressively deeper as the boys interrogated him on the details of his Saturday plans. It was accompanied by a wild flailing of his hands, intrigued expressions on the other two boys' faces, and finally ended with Allen standing up abruptly and running out of the cafeteria, a very deep blush on his face that extended to his neck.

"Very suspicious," Lenalee whispered and received a strong nod from Fou and a depressed one from Lou Fa.

.

_Thursday_

As the students busied themselves on and off the stage with hollering for construction materials, finding copies of the script, squabbling over the blocking and complaining about technical problems, Doug found his way to Lavi who was sitting in one of the audience seats contemplating the meaning of life and his existence.

It was a wondrous sight to behold a silent Lavi for once. Doug took a moment to imprint the image into his head.

Then, silently, he tapped the redhead on the shoulder, hardly having expected the loud shriek and jump from him. Doug similarly shrieked and jumped back, holding his hand over his thumping heart. Lavi turned a scared, wide eye to him and there was a moment when they both just stared at each other. Doug was the first to break out of the standstill.

"God, Lavi! Don't scare me like that!" Doug glared at him.

"That should be my line! Gah, anyway, what did you want?" Lavi said as he slumped back down onto his seat. Doug settled in the seat beside him and looked at him curiously.

"Well, nothing much, really," he shrugged. "It's just weird not to see you fooling around with the rest on stage. What's eating you?"

"Oh, eh, hehe!" Lavi laughed somewhat nervously, spiking Doug's curiosity. "Nothing, nothing! I was just thinking about some work, that's all," Lavi said in a falsely confident and bright tone. He scratched at the back of his head once more before decisively springing up from his seat. Doug followed in a slower manner, still looking at Lavi.

"Listen, Doug, it's really nothing much," Lavi said unconvincingly. He smiled. "I'll just be heading off to rehearse now, yeah?" Without even waiting for Doug to protest, Lavi bounced off to the stage, yelling out apologies to the huffing director as he reached the front.

Doug blinked. That was…fast, the encounter didn't even last more than a minute. The cogs in his mind started whirring as he watched Lavi dash off. Something about Lavi's behaviour seemed fishy…the goofy redhead was spacing out and smiling in a silly manner more than usual these days, almost as if…

Almost as if he had a love interest.

Doug's eyes widened. Might it be possible? The signs pointed to it…the spacing out, the silly smiles, the sudden silences that seemed to descend upon him, the nervousness when random people appeared and touched him, almost as if he was expecting someone else to greet him, almost as if he was _nervous_ for a certain someone to catch him grinning about him or her. And if he was not wrong, his friend and roommate Kanda seemed to be more irritated than usual lately, as if Lavi had been bothering him more often about, well, who knew what, but it could be his romantic interest, right?

Doug started to grin. So, the cynical redhead who never believed in love, who was so cold the first time they met, who had tons of admirers but never a true love, had finally found someone who managed to crash through the walls he built around himself. Doug shook his head and laughed fondly.

Now, just to get confirmation and the exact details on what was going on…

With that thought in mind, he excused himself from the technical chief and wandered off in the direction of the kendo training room.

.

_Friday_

Allen tapped his feet irritably as he watched the clock for the nth time that day. It seemed to be stuck, though if he squinted he could see the second hand ticking forward slowly, seeming to mock him exclusively. Though, as he looked around, he could see many other people shooting impatient glances at the clock as well, and was it just him, or was the teacher also glancing more at the clock even as he droned on from his textbook?

The pen tapped a steady rhythm against his book as he tried to concentrate. Something about differentiation, or integration, heck, he really didn't care. Something weird that he would likely never put to use in the future ever again. Allen sighed. It brought to mind the days when he would run to Lavi asking him for help in his math homework, and that in turn brought to mind thoughts of tomorrow. Allen bit his lip and looked at the clock again.

The teacher was frowning at the mass inattention and was about to call someone to answer a question. The class fidgeted. Mercifully, the bell rang. Immediately, everyone forgot manners to give a loud cheer at the end of another school week. Allen was one of the many who shot up from his seat, stuffed everything into his bag and all but dashed out the door.

At least, that was the plan.

With a sudden jerk at his bag that nearly sent him crashing to the floor, the door shot out of his reach. Allen yelped and whirled around to find out who the heck was restraining him.

"Fou!" He exclaimed, barely holding in his frustration. "What on earth is it?"

"Hold it, beansprout," Fou said, smiling sweetly. It sent shivers down Allen's spine. It definitely was not a good smile. As the room rapidly cleared out with only a few people shooting curious glances at them, he found himself manhandled into an empty seat and then Fou was looming over him, still with that sweet smile on her face. Allen groaned.

"Okay, I really don't know what I did this time," he said defensively, clutching his bag to his chest.

"Oh, but no one has even accused you of anything yet, beansprout!" Fou said cheerfully. Allen was about to ask what she meant when he was distracted by the entrance of Lenalee. But, he thought, bewildered, what on earth would the senior be here for?

"Good afternoon, Allen," she said when she spotted them, smiling sincerely at him. She walked in their direction. Allen relaxed slightly at her tone, thinking that it might not be that bad if she were here to control Fou. Apparently, he thought right as Fou scowled slightly and stood back to let Lenalee take over. Lenalee grinned, nodded in her direction and took a seat next to Allen. Still slightly tense, he leaned back slightly as Lenalee leaned forward. Lenalee only smiled wider.

It all reeked of a sinister plan. Highly suspicious.

"Well, it's just that, Lou Fa was saying you have a date, and we were just, you know, wondering who it is," Lenalee said, smiling all the while, as if she were asking a truly innocuous question. Allen immediately protested.

"It's not a date!" He said, flustered. Fou raised her eyebrows disbelievingly.

"Oh?" Lenalee faked surprise. "But, well, if it isn't a date…then why are you so flustered, Allen? And surely if it isn't a date," she said louder, interrupting his protest, "then you could just tell us what you have on tomorrow such that you can't hang out with us, right?"

And bingo, they caught him. "Uh, um…" Allen couldn't find a way out of the situation with Lenalee looking at him with such an innocent expression and Fou blocking his way out physically. He flushed. While it was true that it was not a date…it was still quite embarrassing that he thought it as such and that everyone was pressing for details. To make matters worse, here he was cornered by the two nosiest girls in school. And while they could keep secrets well, and they were his friends…there was just no way out of there except to tell the truth and get away when he could to prepare for tomorrow in peace. Surely they wouldn't do anything bad or humiliating, right?

Right.

He sighed, resigned. "I'm just going to hang out with Lavi at the carnival, alright?" He muttered.

The two girls exchanged a triumphant grin that Allen missed, concerned as he was with staring at the tabletop intently. Lenalee clapped a hand on his shoulder and smiled sincerely at his startled look.

"Well, sorry for the misunderstanding, Allen! And sorry for keeping you too, I guess you want to go?" She said brightly.

"Uh…" Allen looked back and saw that Fou had stepped back, albeit she was giving him a truly scary grin. "Right, yeah, um, have a good weekend!" He said quickly, before standing up and dashing out of the classroom. As he ran, he was determined to put the intimidating incident out of his mind, and very soon his thoughts turned to those of tomorrow's activities.

However, if he had stayed a little longer, he would have seen the extremely excited smiles of the girls as they chatted secretly, making plans and sending phone messages to all who were concerned with one of the biggest gossip of the week.

Who, indeed, had gotten the so-far unattainable Allen Walker's heart?

And on the other side of town, a redhead in a similar state of panic was rummaging through his wardrobe, his increasingly disgruntled roommate glaring at him from across the room.

"Yuu! Help me!" Lavi cried, shooting a panicked and pleading look in the man's direction. Kanda only glared harder. Lavi ignored the glare and continued throwing out shirt after shirt, all of which somehow managed to land on Kanda's neat bed and on his work table.

A twitch appeared on his forehead. Lavi was oblivious. He had moved on to fighting through his horde of pants.

Kanda gritted his teeth and resolved to ignore it. The mathematical question in front of him required his full attention after all, so he just continued to work on it, and so if the original equation were to be converted to be something useful for the problem…

A pair of boxers landed neatly on his head. The pen snapped.

Lavi was startled as Kanda suddenly stood up, reached over to grab his shirt collar then flung him solidly onto the floor. He landed on his bottom with a cry of pain.

"Ow, Yuu! What on earth was that for!" Lavi said, dismayed.

"God, shut up, you stupid rabbit! All week, _all week_, you've been wailing non-stop! Just, GRAH," Kanda growled with an inarticulate sound of anger. Taking a quick scan of the clothes piled on the floor and the bed, he grabbed a random shirt and a relatively clean pair of jeans before flinging them onto Lavi's head. Lavi squeaked as his vision was momentarily obscured.

"There! Just wear that, and your stupid headband, and whatever stupid scarf you like, and just go." Giving one last glare, he stomped out of the room, presumably to head to the relative peace of the dining hall. Lavi had started picking the clothes off his head and gave Kanda a wide-eyed look until the door was slammed in his face.

Lavi sighed as he heard his friend retreat and flopped back onto the floor, an impromptu cushion of clothes pillowing his head. The room was in a state of mess, clothes everywhere and pieces of undone work lying around. He groaned as he thought of the amount of cleaning up he'd have to do later and the amount of groveling he'd have to do to get Kanda back in a good mood. For now though, he fixed his eye on the ceiling and allowed his mind to wander.

God, but this was difficult. He'd never cared too much before, about the girls and boys he dated. It was always, always just a stupid lunch and movie, occasionally holding hands if he felt up to it, and perhaps some kissing while feeling nothing except a vague sense of lust. He'd never gone as far as sex, but then again, he'd never cared about those people before either. He knew he broke hearts, and he knew it was cruel, but…

He flung his hand up to cover his eye, blocking out the light and allowing his mind to wander further without the distraction of sight.

By God, he wanted to do it right this time.

Allen was perhaps the first person he'd taken true interest in. First with his looks – the pure white of his hair and the nervous look on his face as he entered their high school. He might have just been like any other freshman, but, well, his hair did make him stand out. And everyone noticed. But it could have stopped just at the fascination with his physical looks.

Then Allen just had to choose to join the drama club. And that's when it started to spiral downwards. The boy was a good actor and his audition definitely stayed in Lavi's mind. It could have been just that, an innocent interest in his acting skills and a desire to pit his own skills against a fellow actor on stage.

Then Lavi decided to talk to him. And the boy, while normally soft-spoken, was witty and fiercely intelligent when provoked far enough. He was probably the first person (that Lavi was interested in, at any rate) to match Lavi on the intellectual level. They talked about many things, beyond the giggles and superficial talk he got from his one-off dates. It was fun, their bantering, their conversation, it all came so easily and he had never felt so relaxed. Soon, without knowing, Lavi was opening himself up to the kid more and more, finding Allen opening up to him in return, and by then it was too late to return to his previous shell.

Now…he was going on a date…not a date, Allen might not consider it as such, can't forget that. It was a forlorn thought, one that had plagued him throughout the week.

Lavi sighed and sat up slowly, his eye showing the turmoil in his mind. He truly hoped that he didn't royally screw up everything between them tomorrow. He won't let things change. He can't.

As night fell, two boys fell into an uneasy sleep, a flurry of text messages popped up in many phones, and the carnival lights shone in the far side of town, beckoning the arrival of the next day.

.

_Saturday_

So, Saturday finally dawned bright and cheery. It was indeed wonderful weather for a date. And for reasons Mana couldn't fathom, his son was wide-eyed and sitting on his bed at seven freaking a.m. in the morning, waking him up from a wonderful dream that he forgot promptly the minute his son shook him awake.

"Oh god, Allen," he groaned sleepily, pushing futilely at the offending body. "It's seven o'clock, go back to bed." He tugged at his blankets and realized that they refused to go up his shoulders as Allen sat obstinately on them. The warmth was slowly seeping out of the blankets, making sleep further and further from catching.

And of course, Allen just had to choose that moment to speak loudly and gratingly so that try as Mana might, he would never fall back into the peaceful doze of before.

"Mana," he whined, not even bothering to whisper as etiquette might have required in this situation. "Mana, help, I have nothing to wear."

"…Oh lord, please remind me that you have a brain," Mana said in disbelief. He pushed his face into the pillow stubbornly. "What on earth do you call what you're wearing now then?"

Allen smacked him none too gently on the back. "You know what I mean. Help me find something to wear for later, Mana. Mana! Don't go back to sleep, you lazy bum!" He crawled up the bed and much as he had done when he was younger, he started tugging on Mana's hair. Mana grunted at the pull and endured it only for a few seconds. While Allen was absorbed in finding new ways to wake him up, he reached up swiftly to tackle the boy, tickling him expertly. Allen squealed and scrambled around on the pillows, trying to escape from the attacking fingers.

"Ah, Mana, don't! Gah! Ah, AH HAH, HAHAHAHA! Alright, alright! Stop!" Allen gasped in laughter, eyes squinted shut. His body still shook in spasms even as Mana dropped back, smiling lazily in his son's direction. Allen breathed deeply for a few moments to recover. Almost subconsciously, he snuggled his body closer against the warmth of Mana. Mana allowed himself to be briefly amused by the affection Allen was seeking, something he hadn't done since he was very young. He would definitely deny his childish actions later and sulk whenever Mana teased him for it.

Something flickered in his eyes as he observed the smiling boy pressed against his side. His smile dropped slightly and twisted into something almost…sad. He reached a hand up to stroke through the white locks, tenderly cupping his hand against the back of Allen's head. Allen grinned as he looked up at his father.

"What is it, Mana?" He said softly this time, and Mana smiled at the abrupt change in tone from previously. He petted his head fondly and smiled reassuringly.

"Allen, don't worry, alright?" He said. Allen just cocked his head, grinned wider and pressed harder into the embrace.

"You're such a sap, Mana," he teased. Mana chuckled.

"You're one to talk, young man," he shot back, and both of them laughed softly at their silliness, neither willing to relinquish the first peaceful moment they had in a long while. Mana shifted and tugged the blankets out from under Allen's body, draping it comfortably over both of them. Immediately, Allen yawned widely, snuggling into the warmth and tugging at the blankets to create a cocoon around both of them.

Mana laughed and reached to the bedside table to set the alarm, knowing that Allen definitely would not want to oversleep that day. Just two more hours of sleep, and they would be ready to face the day. Putting back the alarm clock, he turned back and had to bite back a laugh when he saw the boy already snoozing against his side.

So much for waking up early to prepare for his date, Mana thought fondly, before he drifted off to sleep again, getting the energy to help his son later when the kid would definitely be panicking.

.

Unfortunately, not everyone was as lucky to have an understanding figure by their side on one of the most important days of their adolescent life. Lavi, having always been a morning person, had sprung out of bed at seven a.m. on the dot. Kanda was already long gone, the man being able to inexplicably wake up at six every morning without any sign of tire. He probably sensed danger that morning too and that gave him even more incentive to hit the training rooms, leaving Lavi alone in the room. Lavi groaned at having missed the chance to let out his worries to Kanda.

Guess I'll just have to get ready myself, he thought, and started his morning routine.

An hour later found him with clothes scattered on the floor, and the redhead in question striking a ridiculous pose in front of the full length mirror in leather pants, a graphic tee and a jacket over it. He grinned brightly in the mirror and held the pose for all of one minute before deflating and tugging the jacket off, throwing it onto the floor.

And highly unfortunately for Kanda, even as he came back another hour later, Lavi was still doing the same thing, only in a different set of clothes, as if he were determined to go through all the different permutations of shirts and pants that were humanely possible before one in the afternoon. Kanda barely suppressed a growl when he saw the mess the room was in. Lavi's ears perked up at the sound of Kanda entering the room and he practically flew at him, hugging the startled man around the waist, face pressed into his side.

"YUU! You're finally here! Help me now, please!" Lavi begged pathetically, looking for the entire world like a mad man. It did not help his case that he was wearing a pair of bright orange trousers and a blindingly purple t-shirt. Kanda, for all his lack of a fashion sense, felt his insides shrivel at the ensemble.

He growled and kicked at Lavi's side to remove himself from Lavi's clutch, making the redhead slump on the floor whining in pain. Lavi looked exceptionally betrayed and Kanda just glared harder. Lavi sighed at that and sat down carefully on the floor, picking through the clothes in the immediate area around him. Kanda allowed himself to be slightly worried at the silence that greeted him.

"I know it might not mean much to you, Kanda, but I really am worried," he said softly, looking down at the ground. In a most coincidental way, a white shirt decorated with the words "Techies 2007" greeted him, making him fondly recall the time when he and Allen both decided to try their hands at technical work instead of acting, ending in the two of them being kicked out of the control room and earning them an eternal ban. They were teased for that for the rest of Lavi's high school life, and he'll never forgot how long they laughed over the damage they did to the control room. They somehow managed to wrestle two shirts from the techies to mark their folly.

Looking at that shirt, Lavi really couldn't explain why, but this felt…monumental, for such a simple thing as hanging out at the carnival.

Kanda finally sighed as he recovered from the shock of Lavi using his surname for once. He looked at the mess and knowing that he was hopeless at fashion, he started dialing a number. Lavi looked up curiously, distracted from his contemplation of his clothes.

"Just this once, you idiot," he muttered crossly. Lavi looked confused for a while before he smiled tentatively, accepting that Kanda was probably trying to help him in his own way, though he didn't know why he needed a phone call to do that. He busied himself gathering up the clothes in neat piles while Kanda muttered softly on the phone, conversing with a vaguely familiar voice over the phone for a while before clicking it shut with an irritated huff. Lavi looked at him.

"Wait," was the simple answer, and Lavi did just that, fidgeting with his headband the whole while. Kanda, relishing the silence for once, settled at the table to start on some of his work while Lavi occasionally glanced at his watch. Not too long after the phone call, a knock sounded on their door and Lavi sprang up to answer it.

"Hello, Lavi," Doug greeted cheerfully. Lavi gaped at the boy. "I've come to help you, and…"

"Oh, so this is the brat we're supposed to dress up?" A haughty voice rang sharply, making Lavi gape wider.

Doug had brought Lulubell, fashion student extraordinaire along with him.

.

"She's not picking up," Ri Kei said seriously. Shi Fu looked back at him. They both heaved a huge sigh.

They were both standing in front of a perfectly normal house, looking up at the second floor window where they knew a certain Asian girl's room was. From the open window, faint sounds of wailing drifted down to them. It seemed that the girl still hadn't gotten over her denial of the situation.

"Hey, Lou Fa!" Ri Kei hollered, giving up on using the phone. If anything, the wailing only increased in volume, accompanied with screeches of "_leave me alone!_" Shi Fu lowered his head in thought while Ri Kei started a shouting match with her. The silent teenager remained unfazed even as an alarm clock flew down and narrowly missed his companion. Around them, curious neighbours were peeking over to see what was happening.

Shi Fu sighed and tapped Ri Kei on the shoulder. He leaned over and whispered in the panting boy's ear. Ri Kei frowned at him.

"You sure?" He asked. Shi Fu nodded. Ri Kei sighed, took a deep breath and hollered again.

"If you don't come down this instant Fou will tell Walker very, _very_ dirty stories about your desire for him, and she has the arsenal of stalker shots you took!"

There was a scream, a very loud bang, thundering steps down the stairs and suddenly, a very winded girl stood in front of them. Ri Kei was amazed at how well that worked.

"Don't, don't you dare!" She screeched in their faces. Shi Fu just smiled calmly.

"I think you'd better tell that to Fou when you see her, yes? Now come on, we have to meet Lenalee at twelve, and as it is we'll be late."

"But…" Lou Fa's eyes welled up again.

Ri Kei sighed. "Look, the girls have practically bullied Walker into saying that he has a date, but you never know, right? Who knows if Lavi even has feelings for him, even if Walker does like that fellow? So we just have to go, and we'll have some fun at the carnival along the way, alright?" He patted her on the head. Lou Fa bit her lip and glanced at Shi Fu, who smiled reassuringly back. She sighed.

"Just…let me get changed, and I'll go," she muttered and turned to walk back quickly into the house. The two boys smiled.

.

"Alright, bets," Fou said briskly. Lenalee sipped her milkshake as she thought for a while.

"I bet…five that they will hold hands today."

"Pffft, that's low, way too low! Of course they will! Come on, higher stakes, how about a kiss?" Fou shook her fry at Lenalee before biting a bit of it off. Lenalee pursed her lips.

"How about you start this bet, then?" She challenged.

Fou hummed in thought. Around them, the McDonald's started to fill up with people, but none of them were the trio they were looking for. Lenalee frowned at her watch as Fou continued thinking.

"Alright," she said, making Lenalee break her staring match with the watch for a while. "Twenty that they kiss. But! Not on the lips. Say, on the forehead, or on the cheek."

Lenalee's jaw dropped. "What! Are you serious?"

Fou waved her hands impatiently. "What, you complaining? That gives you freer reign to make your bet, right? You could bet that they won't kiss, or that they will, but on the lips, or anything you can come up with. Come, come, give me your bet."

Lenalee frowned and mentally assessed the two boys in her head.

While she did not doubt that Allen seemed to like Lavi, she wondered if he would indeed be so bold as to confess. And did Lavi even like him back in return? Maybe they really were hanging out as friends? But if it turned out that they liked each other, would either of them really take the step to confessing?

"I bet…" She started slowly. Fou nodded. "I bet…twenty that they do not kiss," Lenalee finished confidently. Fou snorted.

"You really think Walker is that much of a wimp?"

"Not a wimp, but if Allen seems to think of this as a date, yet he always denies it, then it means he thinks of it as a date, but he's scared that Lavi might not. And if Lavi himself also thinks of this as a date, but Allen never said it as such, then neither of them will dare to act on how they feel. Now, if Allen said that it's a date, and Lavi still decides to come, then it means he at least feels the same way, then they'd kiss. But since they didn't…it really depends on how today goes."

"Well, that does make sense, but have you taken into consideration…"

As the two girls discussed on, two shadowy figures scrutinized them from a corner of the restaurant, the staff giving them suspicious glances from time to time. Quite understandably, as the two of them were wearing black coats, had huge sunglasses on and were staring intently in one direction without moving much.

"Are you certain," the man with an absolutely tasteless beanie hissed, "that the two of them are going on a double date?"

"My Lenalee said they're going to meet up with some guy friends. Guys! Whoever dares come near my precious Lenalee is going to hell!" Said the other who accompanied his words with exaggerated sniffles. The first man frowned.

"Fou never told me anything about this, idiot Komui!" He protested.

Komui glared at him. "Just because Fou refuses to share anything with you doesn't mean that my Lenalee does the same! She said she's going to a carnival, and why else would she go there but for a sinister date with some bastards that do not deserve her, idiot Bak!" There was a hissed protest at the insult and some petty pinching, before both of them hushed immediately as the girls turned at the sounds. The two men sat absolutely still, thinking that they looked inconspicuous.

"Fou…" Lenalee said quietly at the other side of the restaurant. "Is it me, or are those two in the corner looking at us?"

Fou frowned and looked at the aforementioned corner. The two men coughed and started to busy themselves with the bland tea that they bought. Failing that effort at acting inconspicuously, they started to talk with false, bright tones and exaggerated hand motions. Fou made a face.

"Nah, they're probably just some weirdos from the street. Anyway, we can leave soon," she nodded at the entrance where the trio just walked through, "they are here." Lenalee brightened and waved them over.

Soon, the group of five was out of the restaurant, chatting as they headed towards the train station, not noticing the two figures that were following them from some distance away.

.

"Okay…" Allen breathed shakily. "Okay, I can do this."

Standing behind him, Mana looked amused as Allen started checking again that he had everything with him. The boy was finally dressed and ready to go. Mana resisted giving the jibe that in the end, he was dressed in the style that he went out nearly everyday in, only slightly nicer and neater. A simple white and black t-shirt that Lavi once said he looked nice in (oh, how Mana laughed when he heard that confession from Allen) and a pair of jeans. His usual pair of sneakers, and he was all done. Allen turned back to Mana and bit his lip uncertainly.

Mana smiled warmly. "You look good. Have a great time, son. Remember, just have fun, alright?"

Allen smiled a little shakily. "Right, yeah. Thanks, dad."

Mana grinned and leaned forward, capturing the boy in a hug. Allen didn't resist and hugged back. Mana nearly, sentimentally, wanted to take a photo of the occasion of his son going on his first date. Allen would probably kill him for that, though. He settled with standing back and ruffling the boy's hair. Allen only scowled briefly.

"Alright, off with you then!" Mana said. Allen smiled nervously and giving a wave, he finally ran out, leaving Mana alone in the large, empty house. Mana grinned slightly as he saw the boy dash down the road and he watched until Allen turned the corner. He then closed the door and started on his own plan.

Checking that his own clothes were in order, he walked to the telephone lying on the couch and picked it up, dialing a number that he was very familiar with. He fixed his shirt as the phone rang and smiled when it was picked up on the other end.

"Hello, Maria? Good morning…yes, remember you said you were free today? Well, there's a fair just out of town and I was wondering if you'd like to join me there…"

.

Lavi stood in front of the carnival that was already busy. He could hear the laughing children, the shrieks from the people on the roller coasters, the cheers and jeers from the performance tent, and he took no joy in it at all. He gulped and looked around him, seeing only more people. Taking a look at his watch, he saw that it was only about fifteen more minutes to one. He leaned against the fence and sighed, deciding to calm himself down slightly. No use worrying after all. Allen probably didn't see it as a date, so it was just…hanging out, that's right.

Lavi worried his lips. Perhaps it was because he was more nervous than usual, but he felt several pairs of eyes on him that day. He frowned down at his clothes, wondering if it was because of that.

But really, in the end Lulubell had looked through his wardrobe and selected an outfit that…well, it was his style anyway. Jeans, a simple graphic t-shirt with a black jacket thrown over it, his usual headband and a red scarf. He wondered if it really was good advice that he received, but it was too late to back out now.

Ten more minutes. Lavi sighed and tapped out a random rhythm on the ground, deciding to shrug off his unease and just concentrate on relaxing before Allen arrived.

.

"Oh, is that him?" Doug whispered, pointing at a random kid. Kanda sighed, wondering how he managed to get dragged into this mess.

"How would I know?"

"Ah, I don't think so, he just went straight inside…are you sure Lavi never said anything about what he looked like?" Doug asked insistently. Kanda nodded tersely. Doug hummed. "By the way," he said suddenly, "I didn't know Professor Mikk is your cousin, Lulubell."

Lulubell smiled slightly. "Tyki has cousins all over the place, don't you, darling?" She said, cooing at the man beside her. Kanda was only slightly unnerved to find that the Professor was actually interested in following the proceedings of this little date. Tyki frowned at the lady.

"Well, it was a pity after all, that boy showed such…talent, pity he should already be taken," he said. The smirk on his face was almost sad. Almost. Doug only smiled placidly. Kanda repressed his own shudder.

"That's pedophilic, you know," Lulubell said. Tyki just flapped his hand irritably at her.

"It's not as if I did anything. As it is, it's simply admiration…oh, is _that_ him?" He said with sudden interest in his voice, and all present turned back swiftly to the scene.

Their thoughts went along the lines of '_it can't be_' as a boy with pure white hair jogged into their view, then turned in unison to '_it really is_' as Lavi waved cheerfully and the boy responded in kind.

Doug smiled, Kanda growled, and two sets of golden eyes narrowed in anticipation.

Time to get the stalking act on.

.

"Oh, that's him, there!" Lenalee said excitedly, pointing to a redhead. The group was hiding behind a conveniently large tree. Some distance away from them, two men hid behind another conveniently large tree.

"Oh, that's him alright," Fou said. Lou Fa squinted at her competition. The boys just leaned comfortably against the trunk.

"We barely made it," Lenalee whispered. "I see Allen running over now."

At that, the girls turned to confirm it and saw a shock of white hair in the mass of brown and black moving swiftly to the redhead. Fou grinned.

"Time to get this show on, ladies," she said, ignoring the squawks that came from the boys at her statement.

.

Allen looked around for Lavi and sucked in a nervous breath when he saw the tall redhead leaning on the fence near the ticketing gate. Even so, he didn't stop running towards him. What kind of attitude would it show if Lavi saw him suddenly stopping before reaching, right?

So, firmly pushing his worries to the back of his mind (but not being able to slow his suddenly fast-thumping heart), Allen returned the wave Lavi sent him.

"Hey, Lavi!" Allen shouted.

"Hey you too, beansprout!" Lavi greeted cheerfully. Allen couldn't help his own grin from spreading and thought that maybe, just maybe, things wouldn't turn out too bad.

Lavi had beamed upon seeing his friend and that familiar smile. He tried to shake his own worries off, deciding to concentrate on enjoying the day with his friend, no matter how much he wanted to think of it as a date.

_Time to get the not-date on_, both boys thought as they reached each other, turned, and headed towards the ticketing gate together.

* * *

**Notes: **

The plot thickens.

Well, not really. There is, quite simply put, not much of a plot. Everybody is just stalking them, that's all. It really wasn't that hard to guess what would happen, huh? (: This is a clichéd high school love song after all.

I promise things will actually, uh, _start_ in the next chapter. Yes, it will. I just have to go write it.

I'm making myself confused with the use of tenses, so if you spot anything weird/wrong please do inform me, I appreciate it. And do tell me how you like the stalker bunch of people, it's interesting to try their perspectives instead of just Lavi's and Allen's. What do you think of their interactions, their thoughts, this whole drama?

Comments are much loved, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I received wonderful reviews for my first chapter, they really made my day. Cheers! Thanks for reading this far!


	3. Act III: The Battle Of The Hands

**Act**** III**: The Battle Of The Hands

**Summary**: The teams of stalkers fall to pieces within the first hour. Allen and Lavi engage in The Art Of Hand Holding. Mana is feminized. Kanda expands his emotional range. Tyki turns into a true stalker. In a nutshell, too many things happen in the mere span of two hours in a strangely transparent carnival which has lots of convenient hiding places.

* * *

1.08pm, Roller Coaster A

"Honestly though, I thought Tiedoll would never shut up!" Allen exclaimed. Lavi laughed.

"The old man does get like that when it comes to the Renaissance," he said, eye shining with mirth. Allen groaned and shook his head at the memory of the never ending Wednesday that he had.

"Normally I wouldn't mind, but…" Allen cut himself off. Lavi looked curiously at him.

"But what?" He prodded.

"Oh, uh, nevermind!" Allen said as he recalled how he had been interrogated by Shi Fu and Ri Kei that day. It all only served to remind him of the situation he was in with Lavi. "Oh, look, it's nearly our turn!" He said quickly as the queue surged forward, placing them at the front for the next batch of passengers. He tried to look anywhere but at Lavi.

"…Right…" Lavi said with suspicion as Allen tried to change the topic. "Guess I'll go along with you then," he muttered. Allen looked at him questioningly, not having heard the muttering. Lavi grinned. "Nothing, nothing. So, tell me, how did you do for chemistry this week?"

At this, Allen groaned again. "You wouldn't believe how hard the test was! Reever was apparently all set on improving our grades since, you know, our last test was terrible and such? So he made us revise extra hard but this time he tested on all those latest chapters when everyone thought he'd concentrate on the earlier and middle chapters…"

As Allen ranted on, Lavi grinned at the animation in his voice and wildly moving hands and simply enjoyed the glint of happiness in his eyes (even though he was still ranting about school). It really had been too long since they last saw each other, since Lavi started university life, in fact.

.

"Well," Ri Kei said as he stretched, "all they're doing is talking about school, nothing that interesting, really." He took care to speak in a softer tone so as not to be overheard. Lenalee, who was stationed near the candy floss stall, nodded thoughtfully.

"What're their tones like?"

"Hmm…quite normal…though there _was_ one point where Walker might have paused and changed the topic. Lavi looked a little suspicious then."

"Oh, that might be good, actually. Allen might have been thinking about this as a date and if he keeps that up, Lavi might find out eventually about what he's thinking, then maybe they'll confess!" Lenalee sounded rather cheerful at that. Ri Kei just raised his eyebrows.

"Right…if you say so…alright, Lenalee, we'll be getting on the ride now, see you later!" Ri Kei said as the queue moved forward again. Shi Fu led him to seats not far behind the supposed couple they were following.

It was actually a miracle that they haven't been found out by the boys, though to be fair they were wearing some ridiculous things, like a troublesome cap and sunglasses. Ri Kei could only tug at the cap irritably and hope that it was all worth it in the end.

_I guess,_ Shi Fu had said while they were walking to Lou Fa's home, _we need to make sure Lou Fa sees once and for all that Walker is attached, or she'll waste all her time on him. Perhaps that's why we need to be here. And, well, I suppose we can just take a break in the meantime as well._

Ri Kei sighed as he strapped himself in, hoping that Lou Fa was at least having some semblance of fun as well.

.

1.08pm, A Random Tree

"I want to talk to him."

All eyes turned to Tyki incredulously as he said this. Lulubell smacked him on the head.

"Didn't you admit yourself that he's already taken? And they're on a date, sort of, you can't just interrupt them," she hissed. Tyki scowled and rubbed where she hit him.

"I didn't mean Lavi, if that's what you're saying," he said. Doug blinked at him. Tyki continued languidly. "I meant the kid, the one he's dating."

Kanda gaped. Doug gaped. Lulubell only rolled her eyes as if she expected that.

"He's, what, fifteen? And anyway, it applies as well, he's taken."

"Can't stop me from trying, as far as I see they haven't confessed yet, right? And anyway, I'm not that, I don't know what you kids call it…not that sex-driven?" Tyki ignored the various disbelieving snorts. "I just want to talk to him, he looks…interesting," Tyki pointed out reasonably, if one ignored the inflection he placed on the word "interesting". Doug managed to recover the use of his brain.

"Well, Prof. Mikk, I…don't think it would work, given that he doesn't know you at all," he said, with all due respect. Tyki only raised an eyebrow at him.

"We'll see, boy, we'll see," he said. And a truly scary leer settled upon his lips.

.

1.17pm, Candy Floss Stall

"Allen…" Lavi said warningly as the boy gazed at the floss with hunger and eagerness. Allen turned to face his friend.

"What, Lavi? I'm hungry."

"Didn't you say that Mana made a large lunch for you?" He asked.

"Yeah, that was an hour ago. I'm hungry now. Lavi…" Allen said with a very petulant look on his face. Lavi sighed fondly.

"You really are still the same, aren't you?" He said with a grin. Allen grinned back.

"I am. Hi, yes, please give me two sticks of floss, extra large please," Allen said politely to the serving boy. He immediately went quiet with awe as he observed the spinning machine work its magic. Lavi smiled at the enraptured boy and remembered something from a few years back.

"Hey, Allen. Still remember the time when Gill released you late from Physics? And the cafeteria ran out of pizza?" Lavi said. Allen laughed at the memory.

"Oh god, that was horrible. I think Jeryy never recovered from that…though he knows to reserve food for me now when I'm late."

"Well, you have to forgive the fellow, you only burst into their kitchen and started preparing the pizza yourself after all. You destroyed their stock of anchovies."

"Hey! How was I to know how to prepare pizza? Oh, right, thanks," he said hurriedly as the boy passed them two huge sticks of candy floss. "Anyway, thanks to that, Mana got to eat pizza for the next two nights. Worked out well, didn't it?"

"I think he still hates Jeryy for that. Anchovies. For two nights. Poor man."

Lavi accepted his stick with a silent nod of thanks. Allen had already started attacking his, floss sticking to his cheek as he munched contentedly, apparently forgetting the insults Lavi made at his cooking skills. Lavi laughed at the sight while Allen just looked at him indignantly.

"Stop laughing at me," he mumbled through his mouthful, cheeks puffed up like a hamster's storing food. Lavi only laughed harder.

"You really never learn," he said as he pulled out a piece of wet tissue and proceeded to attack Allen's face. Allen squeaked and jumped back from the sudden cold sensation. Lavi only chased after him with his wet tissue and they tore through the crowd, shrieking with laughter.

.

1.20pm, Same Candy Floss Stall

"Look, look!" Komui hissed indignantly as he pointed to Lenalee standing somewhere in the crowd. Bak followed his gaze.

"What, she's just standing there, Komui! Seriously, what's up?"

The boy stared at them. "Um, sirs, do you want to get any floss-"

"Quiet!" Komui shushed impatiently. "Look! See what she's looking at? That boy with the white hair and the one with the red hair! Damn, which one is it that she is after? Both? I wouldn't put it past them, boys are all dirty, inhumane creatures after all…" Komui muttered feverishly as Bak glanced away, bored.

"Sirs, if you do not want any floss, I really will have to request that-"

"Gah, don't disturb me!" Komui said with a terrifying glare. The boy gulped. Bak caught sight of Fou and immediately commenced his own glaring.

"What? How dare those two uncouth boys hang around her? I remember they are in the year above her…oh god, what if they're after her!"

"That's right, they're after my little Lenalee! Once they see that she's following them with such an innocent look in her eyes and such pretty clothes they'll, they'll…"

"I'm sorry, but-"

"I know! And they'll think of chasing her and if both of them can't come to an agreement they'll both chase her and then they'll think of something dastardly like sharing her-"

"What! How dare they even think of that! One is bad enough, but two! I won't let this happen, I'll nip this in the bud before it can even begin!"

"Please, you're really disturbing business-"

"Yes, we'll have to stop this nonsense at once, nip it in the bud!"

"The bud!"

"Sirs, please!"

And to the boy's bewilderment, the two extremely suspicious men suddenly dashed off in two different directions, leaving a cloud of dust near his stall.

He really needed to quit this stupid job.

.

1.32pm, 360 Degrees Turner-Thing

Lavi alternated between looking up at the contraception and at the boy (now cleaned of candy floss) bouncing on the balls of his feet beside him. He wondered how he would be able to pull out of this.

"You…sure you want to go on this? You're not scared?" Lavi said. Allen stopped bouncing and looked at him curiously. Then there was a terrifying grin on his face. Lavi took a step back and wholly regretted asking.

"Why, yes, Lavi, I'm pretty sure I want to try this," he said very sweetly. Lavi cringed. "Oh, Lavi, don't tell me you're…scared, of this?" He said with surprise, eyes widening innocently. Lavi smiled unconvincingly.

"Of course not! It's just…a ride…"

"Yeah, of course it's just a ride, so come on, it's our turn!" Allen said with excitement lighting his face, and with an extremely firm grip on Lavi's arm, he dragged them into the death contraception.

_God, I've never prayed to you before, but please,__ I'll do anything, kill a lamb in your name, recite the holy scriptures, fast for a month, stick needles in my body, just please save me from your satanic spawn_, Lavi pleaded as he glared wholeheartedly at his widely grinning friend. Then they were ushered into their seats, and there was no more escape.

.

1.41pm, Men's Toilets A

Allen winced as he kneeled beside Lavi, who was finally only dry heaving into the toilet bowl. He patted the boy's back gingerly.

"I'm sorry, Lavi, I didn't know you'd react this badly," he said with guilt evident in his voice. Lavi gave a last heave before settling back onto the dubiously clean floor. He sighed.

"You owe me one for this, beansprout," he muttered. Allen nodded and continued smoothing his hand down Lavi's back. Lavi sighed in relief at the soothing touch and continued looking as uncomfortable for as long as possible, so Allen wouldn't remove his hand. It looked like it worked as Allen kept doing so while he was thinking.

"Well, I guess so…as long as it's not too unreasonable," he added hurriedly as Lavi looked at him with a glint in his eye. Lavi smiled.

"Well…hmm, then I would like…" He started. Allen nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

However, what Lavi wanted was never heard as the door to the toilets opened with a bang and they both jumped from where they were sitting on the floor. They stepped out of the cubicle and turned quickly to the source of the commotion, only to find what looked like a terrorist dressed in black standing in the middle of the room. They stared.

"Ah hah, I finally found you, you dastardly boys!" The figure shouted. They looked around only to find the bathroom devoid of other people. They then looked blankly in the terrorist's direction.

"Don't act like you have no idea!" He shrieked and all of a sudden, a terrifying mass of robots flew towards them. They squeaked in surprise and jumped, holding tightly onto each other's arms.

"Allen, what on earth did you do!" Lavi yelped as an incredibly ugly buzzing robotic bee swooped past them. Allen shrieked and jumped as he was knocked in the head with some fuzzy soft toy that still had its price tag attached.

"Why on earth are you asking me! Shouldn't it be you, Lavi?" He shouted over the din of squawking toy animals and boomerangs whizzing over their heads. They instinctively ducked and attempted to swerve to the exit. The terrorist laughed madly and sent another squad of animals after them.

"You shall never escape, you dirty boys, you! Prepare yourselves!" An ugly humanoid robot with the inscription "KM" was launched at them this time.

"Shit, let's just get the hell out of here first!" Lavi said frantically and Allen nodded. They proceeded to kick all the robots and toys out of the way. With a nimble hand, Allen plucked a boomerang out of the air and, doing some incredibly fast physics, threw it with all his force in the direction that would eventually end the trajectory at the terrorist's head. The man, too concentrated on controlling all his robots, did not notice the attack and was knocked cleanly on his head. In the midst of his curses, the boys dashed out the bathroom and far, far away, not stopping till they reached a bench just near a sizeable crowd.

Deeming the area safe, they slumped down on the bench, still panting from the adventure.

"What…what the hell…was that…" Lavi gasped out, doubled over and resting his elbows on his knees. Beside him, Allen leaned tiredly against the back of the bench.

"I…I have no idea…I've never even seen the guy before," he said, bewildered. Lavi nodded in agreement and, the matter of none of them knowing the guy settled, they just focused on catching their breath back for a while.

Then, inexplicably, Lavi started laughing. Allen looked at him in shock for a while but Lavi just wouldn't stop laughing. Slowly, a smile pulled at Allen's lips, before he started giggling and, spurred on by Lavi's laughter, he soon descended into his own full-blown laughter, clutching his belly as it started getting painful to even draw breath.

.

1.56pm, Near The Circus Tent

"Do you know what happened?" Lenalee asked Fou anxiously. Fou shook her head, slightly bewildered herself.

"Ri Kei and Shi Fu went to get some food, so nobody followed them into the toilet. Damn, we won't have any idea at all what happened," she growled.

Suddenly, Lenalee perked up. "They were holding hands, right?" She said.

Fou cackled and shook her head. "I wouldn't count it as that, darling. Lavi was pretty much just pulling Walker's wrist to run with him, no romance at all."

"Oh," Lenalee's face fell. She thought for a while. "Well, at least it's pretty close. Oh, Shi Fu, Ri Kei, over here!" She waved. The boys spotted them and weaved their way over. They both looked perplexed. "What did you find?" She asked.

Ri Kei scratched his head. "Uh…it was kind of strange, when we were going in to see what they were running away from we only bumped into this really…fat…man, I think," Ri Kei looked at Shi Fu for confirmation. Shi Fu frowned.

"Not really fat, his coat just looks really bulky…but either way, the toilets were perfectly normal, so I have no idea what scared them so much."

The girls raised their eyebrows and looked at each other questioningly. Fou shrugged. Lenalee sighed.

"Well, okay, where's Lou Fa?" She asked.

Ri Kei looked surprised. "I thought she was with you girls?"

Lenalee looked equally surprised. "I thought she was with you guys?"

There was a pause, and a horrified silence descended upon them.

.

2.03pm, The Shooting Stall

Doug turned from watching the boys on the bench and observed curiously as Kanda picked up the toy gun. His look turned into one of awe when Kanda proceeded to shoot down all the cups expertly. The owner of the stall looked at the fallen cups with dismay.

"Well…guess you win a prize then, laddie," he said gruffly. "Whaddaya want?"

Kanda scoffed. "I don't care for this, you just get something," he said to Doug. Doug looked surprised.

"Really? Wouldn't you want anything?"

"No."

"Well…thanks, then!" Doug just randomly selected a huge stuffed toy bear, which the owner plucked from the stand. "Though…I have no idea what to do with this either. Maybe I'll give this to Colette," he said, looking sheepish. Kanda sighed.

"Now that we've established that the stupid bunny is safely on his date, I'm leaving."

Doug looked a little puzzled. "Well, sure, but it is a nice day out, I thought we could just hang out around here, take a break from schoolwork," he said simply.

Kanda shot him a suspicious look. "Why?"

"Well…considering that we're both Math majors, it's a bit surprising that I've never even talked to you much. I thought it'd be a good chance to get to know you a little. Of course, you can leave if you want to, but I thought if it's a fair, at least if you don't want to talk about stuff you could play some games, and well, we could just hang out to see the results of Lavi's date."

Kanda frowned. "Why do you even want to get to know me?"

Doug shrugged. "There's no why, I would just like to. If you really don't want to, it's alright with me, Kanda," he said and looked at Kanda sincerely.

Kanda sighed and considered his options. While he didn't really relish being at the fair, it would be somewhat…rude to just leave Doug here suddenly, now that Tyki and Lulubell had disappeared off elsewhere as well. On the other hand, he was missing a fantastic chance at doing work undisturbed. But something told him that maybe, just maybe, Lavi would stop bugging him about meeting more people if he told him that he was with Doug that day. And Doug was being irritating by being so respectful, which would, oh horror of horrors, make him feel _guilty_ if he were to snap at him. Yet…too much thinking, best to treat the bunny's date as a job that he had to see completed, and so when that idiot returned from his date he wouldn't have to listen to him blabbing on and on about every single thing he did. Doug, at the very least, was a civil person to be with.

Kanda just headed off towards the next stall that was still within sight of the bench that Doug had been observing, hearing Doug following behind him and the boy starting a little one-sided conversation.

"Well, I guess it would be rude not to offer some information about myself first…"

.

2.05pm, Bench Near The Performance Tent

Their laughter had finally died down and now only random chuckles escaped them. Lavi leaned back against the bench, his eye closing. Allen smiled at how peaceful he looked.

"Well…that was funny, wasn't it, sprout?"

"Yeah…I still wonder what was up with that guy, though. I can't shake the feeling that I might have seen him somewhere before…" Allen said.

"So it was your fault after all?" Lavi teased. Allen laughed.

"Nope, still have no idea what he wanted. Maybe he's just some weirdo off the street?" He suggested.

Lavi hummed. "Could be…well, let's forget it. What do you wanna do next?"

Allen smiled. "Let's just sit here for a while, let your weak self recover."

"Oi! That's not my fault and you know it, tons of people puked afterwards too!"

"Oh yeah, that's right, you're strong. To hold it in till you reached the toilets."

"Gah, I'll get you back, sprout," Lavi said without any real threat in his voice. He then closed his eye again to rest a little while more and Allen quieted down, letting him.

The sunshine, kind to them that day, made it a fairly warm spring day. Allen looked out at the mass of milling people and smiled at the number of families out with their children. Inadvertently, he also caught sight of several couples walking close together, murmuring and laughing to each other. He took extra notice of their clasped hands.

It looked nice, holding hands with someone he liked. He wondered…

Glancing to the side, he saw Lavi's eye still closed and his left hand sprawled carelessly on the bench, fairly near Allen's right hand. It was almost like an invitation. Allen gulped, wondering what Lavi would think if he suddenly held his hand. But, their hands were so close, and now might be the perfect time to tell Lavi how he felt…

He let his hand slowly move towards Lavi's.

.

2.12pm, Popcorn Stall 

"Maria," Mana said suddenly and she looked up from her popcorn. "I think that's my son over there, and his date."

Interest perked, she looked in the direction of the bench Mana was pointing to and gasped. "Mana, it looks like your son is about to hold the redhead's hand!"

"Lavi. And yes, he is, isn't he?" Mana murmured, stepping forward for a better view. The hand was slowly approaching the other and it was so close, just a downward motion and they would be holding hands…

Mana and Maria cursed together as a horde of people suddenly ran by, obscuring their view.

.

2.12pm, Near The Circus Tent

Lenalee and Fou had dispatched the boys to find their wayward friend and were watching developments closely, though they couldn't hear a single word the boys said. They suddenly gasped in unison.

"He's actually going to do it!" Fou said, delighted. Lenalee nodded in excitement. They held their breath as the hand reached downwards towards the appendage. It was so close, it was so close, Lenalee would win five dollars from this!

A loud chortle sounded in their ears and a clown jumped in front of them, making both girls scream.

"Oh ho, what do we have here, two lovely young ladies! Do come for our show-"

"Damn it, you're blocking our view!" Fou said loudly, extremely irritated now and as the poor clown wondered what was going on, he was suddenly pushed to the side by the lovely young ladies.

.

2.12pm, Bench Near The Circus Tent

"Alright, let's go, Allen!"

Lavi sprung up from the bench and stretched upwards, eye still squinted shut against the light from the sun. He then spun around to face the bench and tilted his head curiously when he saw Allen staring at him.

"Do I have something on my face? Wait, you didn't draw anything, did you?" He asked, eye narrowed. Allen still continued staring. Lavi felt a little unnerved.

Unexpectedly, Allen started laughing softly, shaking his head. Lavi jumped and felt a little worried. Allen was just laughing and to Lavi, it felt weirdly…sad? He frantically wondered what he did wrong.

"Are you alright, Allen? I'm sorry, what did I do?" He asked. Allen just smiled weakly at him.

"It's…nothing, Lavi. Sure, let's go."

"Allen, it's not nothing. Tell me, please?"

Allen actually did stop and pondered over it for a little while. Lavi didn't prod him, just let him think at his own pace. He was still a little dismayed when the boy only smiled at him without offering an answer.

"Maybe later? Let's just go first, alright?" He said sincerely. Lavi could not detect any frustration in his tone, but Allen's reaction still worried him slightly. Allen just smiled wider.

"Let's try the next roller coaster!" He said with a slight lilt to his tone. Then, he grasped Lavi's arm and tugged him along, much like how a child would tug a reluctant parent. Lavi sighed and allowed himself to be dragged along.

An awkward silence fell upon them. Lavi bit his lip, hating himself for not knowing what went wrong.

.

2.12pm, Popcorn Stall 

"They didn't," Maria said, sounding disappointed. Mana shrugged.

"Well, they'll do it at their own pace. Salty popcorn?" He offered and let his hand sneak to her box of sweet popcorn. She sighed and grabbed a handful of his popcorn.

.

2.12pm, Near The Circus Tent

The girls cursed. The poor clown had wandered off to find more agreeable customers.

"Idiot Lavi," Lenalee muttered. Fou just shook her head in disappointment.

.

2.18pm, Roller Coaster B 

Unaware of the mass disappointment that accompanied his own, Allen instead mused in an existentialist fashion upon the meaning of silence. There is something, Allen thought seriously, about silences that can change the situation entirely.

He had seen it before, executed perfectly on stage to set the mood. It was a couple's strained silence after a quarrel, so the actors were standing just across the stage from each other and training their faces to reflect the awkwardness. He and Lavi had to try that once. Not as a couple, but as some sort of screwed up father-son relationship. It was pretty difficult, Lavi had to try not to burst into laughter at any second because Allen was miffed at how he got the role partly because of his white hair. The director made no apologies for it and the play ended up wildly successful anyway. In any case, the silences during their rehearsals were always filled with the strain of barely held-in laughter.

Now though, as he glanced to the side where Lavi looked like he was thinking over something, he thought he could categorize this silence perfectly as 'uncomfortable'. He wanted to break the silence.

Lavi, however, beat him to it. "Hey, Allen…this might be weird, but…you have anyone you like now? As in…_like_."

Allen stared. This was simply too much of a coincidence. Lavi had a look of nonchalance on his face, but they weren't both actors for nothing – it wasn't just pure interest on Lavi's part. Allen carefully chose his next words.

"That's…pretty sudden and weird indeed. Why do you ask?"

Lavi frowned at the suddenly careful and polite way in which Allen spoke. This seemed to be making their situation worse and worse. But there really was no choice but to go on with this topic, seeing as he started it.

"I guess I would just like to know, as your friend," he said, affecting a neutral tone as best as he could.

"Hmm…and if I said I have someone I like?" Allen said, taking note of the tone Lavi was using.

"Then…I guess I would ask who it is."

"And if I said it is someone you know?"

"Then that would give me even more incentive to know who it is."

"And if I ask you the same question?"

"If you answered me, then it's only fair that I give you an answer in kind as well."

"But if I don't want you to know who it is that I like?"

"Then I would have to guess at the reasons as to why you don't want me to know," Lavi raised a hand and started counting down. "One, it's someone unsavoury. Two, it's Lenalee and so her brother would kill you if he knew. Three, it's someone totally forbidden, like a cousin, or a sister, or a brother. Four, it's someone you know I might like, and so in some strange code of honour you're not fighting for that person with me." He glanced from the corner of his eye at Allen who was frowning.

"It could be none of those reasons," Allen said somewhat defensively and Lavi raised his eyebrows.

"True, but then I would have to get you to tell me your reason then."

Allen allowed Lavi to have the last word of their exchange and just fell silent, looking troubled. Lavi sighed and slung his arm around Allen's shoulders. Allen looked up, a little surprised.

"Look, I was just wondering. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine, sprout," Lavi smiled at him. It bugged him that Allen would want to keep it secret from him but well, he'd give a shot at the respecting other people's spaces thing. Allen gave a little smile back.

"I might tell you…sometime later," Allen decided. He half expected Lavi to remove his arm at that, but Lavi just kept it around him, warm and snug until they had to get onto the ride.

.

2.25pm, Fast Food Restaurant 

Lou Fa looked glumly at her milkshake. Bak, sitting across from her, sighed.

"Alright, so let me sum this up…you, Ri Kei, Shi Fu, Fou and Lenalee are stalking Walker. You didn't want to ruin the date he has, but you don't want to be with the rest when they are trying to get Walker and his boy together. So you ran away and now, here we are."

Lou Fa winced. "I'm sorry I knocked you over, Mr. Chang."

Bak just waved his hand. "Nah, good that you did anyway, Fou would have skinned me if I disturbed them. So, you're sure Ri Kei and Shi Fu are not after her?" He narrowed his eyes. Lou Fa nodded. Bak settled back in his seat, smiling slightly this time.

Lou Fa frowned a little. "Mr. Chang, excuse me for saying this, but well…Fou is seventeen, and you're twenty nine, you don't think this is a little, uh, difficult?" She looked genuinely curious.

Bak blinked. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I've never thought about that, it's just, we've grown up together, you know? So I've never really seen her as a student. Well, even more so now that I'm not teaching at Hersh anymore. And you know her, if she really doesn't like it she'll kinda kick me off to the side, so…"

"Oh…" Lou Fa blinked rapidly. "That's quite sweet, actually…"

Bak looked at her for a while. "You know, Walker isn't the only good man in this entire world. It probably hurts now, but, uh…damn, I'm not good at this," he muttered as Lou Fa just looked glummer. He scratched the back of his head. "Uh, what I meant was, if he really does like that boy as you said he does, then you can't really do anything about it- ah, don't cry!"

He looked frantic as Lou Fa dabbed at her eyes. She waved her hand for him to go on though, and he hesitated then continued.

"Well, um, it doesn't look like it now, but I can…kinda get what you're feeling. Look, since you're here, just try to have fun, go on some rides or something, um, you've probably cried enough already, so just…spend a good Saturday here?" He blanched as Lou Fa looked up at him suddenly. He really didn't know what to do with girls crying. Lou Fa looked contemplative though.

"You're nicer than I thought you are, Mr. Chang," she said. Bak squawked. "I mean, in school, you were always this stern teacher."

Bak looked indignant. "I've always been nice!"

Lou Fa smiled. "Yeah, maybe…oh no!"

She suddenly ducked down under the table. Confused, Bak looked behind him and blinked as Walker and that boy – he never did teach him before – walked into the restaurant. Allen blinked when he spotted Bak.

"Mr. Chang!" He said, recognition lighting up in his eyes. Bak waved.

"Yo, Walker. Doing well, I see," he said in way of greeting.

Allen smiled at him. "Lavi, this is Mr. Chang, he taught me Math in Hersh."

Lavi grinned. "So I finally get to see the person who single-handedly pulled the sprout's grades up from a D." Allen huffed and punched Lavi on the arm. Then, to Bak's alarm, they sat down at his table, under which Lou Fa was crouching. "Ah, right, there're too many people here, could we just sit here for a while so that the sprout can eat really quickly in, like, five minutes?"

Allen huffed though he didn't look unhappy. "Not my fault I have such a high metabolism rate. Right. What do you want, Lavi?"

"Just grab me some fries, sprout," Lavi said and he managed to get in a hair ruffle before Allen could duck. Allen scowled at him and turned to Bak. "You want anything, Mr. Chang?"

Bak shook his head and resisted the urge to peek under the table to see how Lou Fa was doing. He felt an urgent grab at his legs as Lou Fa pressed as close as she could to him to avoid bumping into Lavi's legs. He could feel the sweat building up in his palms from his nervousness.

Feigning nonchalance, he leaned forward to talk to Lavi. "So, you are studying at the uni here then?"

Grinning, Lavi leaned forward to give his little self introduction to Bak. Bak tried to ignore the nervous grab at his ankles.

.

While Allen was standing in the queue, he looked back periodically to see how Lavi and Bak were interacting. To his relief, Bak seemed to be listening with interest to whatever it was that Lavi was talking about, and Lavi seemed to be his usual chatty self. And, while he wouldn't admit this to Lavi, he was glad to get away for a while so he could think about what Lavi asked him about.

Allen wondered how he was supposed to break to Lavi that yes, it was indeed someone Lavi knew (extremely well), someone close to both of them, and perhaps, to a tiny extent, someone forbidden. He wondered if Lavi had the same quantity of female admirers as he did when he was in high school. He wondered if Lavi found someone. He even wondered whether Lavi had a new best friend, and beat himself up with guilt once he thought that and hence in the process doubted Lavi's friendship. It was such a headache thinking of all these.

"You don't look happy, boy," a smooth voice sounded next to his ear, making him jump. Allen turned and blinked.

Before him stood a tall man with his hair slicked back. He had the weirdest gold eyes Allen has ever seen; he concluded that it must be the work of contact lenses. Allen was slightly unnerved at the enormous shit-eating grin on his face. To top it off, he was wearing really nice expensive clothes to a carnival.

Allen couldn't help but think that he would have looked pretty good had it not been for the grin on his face. Allen smiled politely back.

"Hi, sir, I don't believe I've met you before," Allen said, preparing to close it at that. He did not expect the verbosity of the man.

"Ah, and I don't believe I know you either. Well, here I am, just curious, why indeed are you looking so down in a carnival?" The man might have thought he looked sincere, and it would have fooled Allen had he not recognized the same faux-sincere look he had adopted many times in the past. Allen just continued keeping his polite smile.

"I really do not believe it is any of your business, sir. Oh, do excuse me, I have to order now," Allen said with a blinding smile as he stepped up to the counter. He launched off a list of food and deliberately turned his back to the still-grinning man.

.

"Oh, so you do know Professor Mikk!" Lavi said, intrigued. Bak grimaced.

"He might be excellent in teaching history, but that man has never settled well with me."

Lavi nodded fervently and shifted forward even more, preparing to speak. Unexpectedly, his feet connected with something soft and the something soft squeaked. Lavi blinked.

Bak laughed in a sudden, loud manner. Lavi winced at the assault on his ears. "Uh, Mr. Chang?"

"What! Oh! Hoho, right, you were about to say?"

"Uh, I do believe there is something under your table? It made a sound…"

Lavi pushed his chair back and was about to put his head under to investigate. Bak panicked and under the table, Lou Fa nearly screamed.

In that split second, there was a disturbance at the side of their table. Allen had ran to their table and was currently tugging at Lavi's arm.

"Lavi," he said with a warning glint in his eyes, "there is a truly horrendous pedophile leering at me from the queue, and I really must insist that we leave. Now." Bags of food were thrust into Lavi's arms. Lavi blinked.

"A what? Pedophile?"

"Really fantastic meeting you, Mr. Chang, but I'm afraid we'll have to leave right now!" Allen said cheerfully and without another word, he dragged Lavi out of the booth and hightailed it out of the restaurant. Bak was left to faint at the near mishap.

Under the table, Lou Fa hyperventilated.

.

2.40pm, Bench On The Sidewalk 

"I think, Maria, that you will have to hide me," Mana said calmly. Maria looked bemused.

"Mana Walker, whatever do you mean?" She said with a small smile. Mana nodded in the direction of the performance tent. Two boys were headed their direction with enormous bags of food, looking for a free bench. Maria cursed and in the work of a few seconds, she had draped a colourful, flowery scarf over Mana's head. Mana didn't even have the time to protest as the two boys came to the sidewalk and proceeded to a bench near theirs.

To Maria's amusement, she could even hear some of their conversation.

"Lavi," Mana's son was asking, "er, do you think," his voice lowered in volume, though Mana and Maria could still hear them, "that person…is a woman?"

Maria suppressed her giggles as Mana choked. The redhead – Lavi, she remembered – laughed a little.

"He could be a gypsy. A very manly one. Now, where're my fries?" The paper bag rustled as he dug through them. Allen was already chewing on an overly large burger.

"Grab it yourself, m'busy," he mumbled. Lavi waited patiently until the burger was demolished before he asked the next question.

"So, pedophile?"

Mana choked again.

Allen groaned. "It was the weirdest thing ever. He was going all 'oh boy you look so sad, let me warm your sad little self up with my huge manly warm body'. I swear that he's a pedophile." Maria could hear the disbelieving, angry sounds of a protective father. She patted his hand.

"From my experience, you usually exaggerate things. He probably said something along the lines of 'how is the weather'."

"Mmf," Allen swallowed quickly. "Okay, yeah, so he didn't say all that-" Lavi chuckled. Allen poked him in the side. "But he still was all 'oh, tell me your deep dark secrets'. Gah, wait, let me finish my food." Apparently hunger took priority over the danger of rape and kidnap. Lavi appeared disgruntled by this fact as Allen scarfed down yet another burger. He stole a fry from Lavi's packet along with it. Maria felt Mana leaning against her, trying to see their interactions from under the protective cover of her scarf. She had to admit that had she not wanted to avoid being labeled a stalker, she would have squealed at their boyish adorableness.

And when their hands reached for the same fry and touched, she really very nearly did that. Mana stopped breathing beside her.

.

2.47pm, Bench On The Sidewalk

There were several incidents in his life which scared Lavi shitless. Lavi could count them on one hand.

Once, he was pretty young and the teacher refused to let him go to the bathroom. He peed in a spectacular fashion all over the chair and floor. He was caned. He wasn't a popular kid at all then, so he was taunted for a whole month for being "pee-baby" or something equally ridiculous.

One day in primary school, on a dare, he streaked through the grounds. A man tried to kidnap him. He can't remember how he escaped, his grandfather assured him he developed trauma from that incident so he will never remember it and his mind will remain mostly unscarred. And he was given ten whacks of another formidable cane for that incident.

In high school, Allen Walker entered his life. One time, with absolutely no idea a whole bunch of sophomores had pool lessons, he walked into the changing room only to find the boy in perhaps the most normal pair of swimming shorts ever. Still, swimming shorts. Tight swimming shorts. It made Lavi experience a huge epiphany for the first time in his young life. He had to duck-run out of the place even as he had his epiphany. In the end, it was a miracle that Allen didn't notice his hard-on. Allen never did question him for that though, for which Lavi was eternally grateful.

More recently, when he entered university and got to know Kanda Yuu as his dorm mate, he made the fatal mistake of calling him by his first name _and_ making fun of his hair _and_ playing with his fake katana. He still wondered till this day how his head didn't get lobbed off. Perhaps it was selective memory that didn't allow him to remember anything of that truly traumatic incident.

And now, Allen's hand was on top of his. His hand was being pressed into the fries, scratchy with salt grains against his skin. Allen seemed to have frozen beside him. Lavi didn't know what to do. He tried to remember the formula of trashy romance novels.

On the one hand, he really liked Allen. And he wondered, if Allen didn't remove his hand, if that meant Allen really liked him too.

On the other hand, if he didn't remove his hand and Allen didn't really _like_-like him, then it would simply spell disaster for both of them.

Abandoning all thoughts of trashy romance plots, he decided to wait for Allen to act. For some absolutely weird reason his breathing quickened.

Then, inexplicably and impossibly, Allen's hand tightened on his and the boy lifted both their hands from the crushed fries. Lavi peeked and saw Allen staring at their hands with a weird concentration. Allen's hand was really, really warm against his. Allen turned Lavi's hand over, palm up, and gently brushed the salt grains off, his right holding Lavi's hand and his left brushing the palm.

"You have salt on your hands," he observed very astutely and did not lift his eyes from their hands. When the hand was clean, Allen didn't seem to know what to do.

Taking a leap of faith, Lavi quickly flipped his hand back over and gripped Allen's. A jolt seemed to run through Allen's body and he lifted his eyes this time to look at Lavi. Lavi, nervous, gave him a somewhat shaky smile. Their palms were sweaty and itchy with salt. But they were warm, and it felt weirdly nice, and they couldn't quite bring themselves to pull away.

Allen smiled back and in a somewhat strained silence, he went back to eating with only his right hand. Lavi concentrated on his fries as well. Their clasped hands lay on the bench between them.

.

2.49pm, Behind The Shooting Stall

"You owe me five bucks."

"Oh come on, we didn't even establish a bet."

.

2.49pm, The Fishing Stall

"They did it, wow, I can't believe Lavi actually did it."

"Hmph, that rabbit is shameless."

"Wow…Kanda, your fish is escaping."

"Whatever."

.

2.49pm, Behind The Hoops Stall

"This is so very gay."

"Mr. Chang said he'll take care of Lou Fa, right?"

"Yes. This is so very gay."

"Ri Kei, do be quiet."

* * *

**Notes: **

Holy shit I'm exhausted. I really do apologize for how long this chapter took.

I need to finish Middlemarch, which I've taken to affectionately (har har) calling The Long March. And then Jude The Obscure which many people have promised me is going to be hugely depressing. Not to mention I've only recently finished Vanity Fair. Oh, the joys of being a Literature major, wouldn't you want to be me? (No, better not answer that.)

This chapter dislikes me. Lavi and Allen are being hugely uncooperative. Why can't they hold hands like normal happy people and frolic off into the land of rainbows and unicorns and live in a huge castle and be married happily ever after? Why is Tyki such a perv? Can he not be a perv? (Oh right, the alternative is being an ass…actually, I can't really fathom him. Hmm. This calls for character analysis. Just take note here he's mostly for comic relief.) Why has Kanda expanded his emotional radar from that of a teaspoon's to that of a tablespoon's? Komui is forever a mad scientist. And holy shit, is Bak actually not stalking Lenalee for once? What the hell is the layout of this weirdly transparent carnival?

These wonderful questions flit through my head as I try to figure out Heathcliff and Catherine. As you can imagine, this is all hugely distracting me from schoolwork. It was rather difficult thinking of some sort of format that can accommodate our main players Allen and Lavi and their affectionate groups of stalkers, and that can move the pace forward while still developing the characters reasonably. Well. I hope this is somewhat satisfactory.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the more reviews an authoress gets, the happier an authoress is, and the quicker the next installment of this midsummer madness can be released. If you have plowed through all the literary references in this author note, tell me so we can angst together. By the by, didja spot a D. N. Angel moment in the story? (:

Many thanks for the reviews for the last chapter, I enjoyed reading every single one of them!


	4. Act IV: What Goes Up Must Come Down

**Act**** IV**: What Goes Up Must Come Down

**Summary**: Troubles are bound to crop up when things seem to be going well. They always do. But perhaps there'll still be a way to work to a happy ending. A series of semi-serious conversations, awkward moments, miscommunication of feelings and the stage is gradually set for the final act.

* * *

2.42pm, Fast Food Restaurant

Tyki chortled. It was a rather undignified chortle in Lulubell's opinion, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to be seen in the company of such a man.

Unfortunately for her, Tyki headed her way and grinned winningly. "Did you see how the boy reacted?"

"Yes, I did. I'm rather sure it was not the most positive reaction he could have had," she said, her tone dry. "What _is_ it that you're trying to do?"

"Oh, I don't quite know myself, Lulu – " He laughed weakly when he saw her glare. "I mean, _Lulubell_. But he is rather…interesting. Do you know, I think I might have seen him somewhere before?"

"Hmm." She was slightly more interested now. "Where and when?"

Tyki's grin slipped. Lulubell sighed. "You don't know."

"Hey," he protested, "I told you, it's a feeling I have. It's not the most comfortable of feelings either, but…I'm rather sure. But before that, let's follow them, shall we?"

Lulubell thought for a while. Then she smiled. "Only if we visit the Earl later."

Tyki's face fell. "They're here too?"

"At the performance tent, you _know_ that. Well then, let's go, Tyki Mikk."

.

2.55pm, Bench On The Sidewalk

When all was said and done, and the bag of food emptied too fast for both boys' liking, they were left sitting on the bench without a word to say. Lavi fidgeted, fingers of his free hand playing with the wrappers. Allen was similarly quiet on the other side of the bench. Lavi soon realized, with dismay, that it was getting far too warm for them to hold hands comfortably, the sweat was already collecting between their palms.

Allen cleared his throat. Lavi turned and met Allen's nervous glance. "Um…Lavi, um, do you…"

Lavi swallowed. This might be the pivotal moment. In a totally unromantic carnival, with the painfully high screeches of excitable children near them, surrounded by hamburger wrappers…okay, so it wasn't the dream scene he had in mind, stolen from the trashy romance novels he secretly liked, but. Well. Maybe this was it.

"Uh," Allen looked highly uncomfortable from Lavi's silence. "Uh…what do you want to do next! There's uh, there's uh…more, more roller coasters to try!" He said quickly, averting his gaze to stare at the air in front of him.

Lavi blinked. Then his face fell, his free hand coming up to scratch at the back of his head. Did he misread Allen? When he held Allen's hand, did Allen not pull away only because he did not want to embarrass him? Oh…oh shit, was Allen now so nervous because he did not actually _like_-like him? Maybe…maybe he was too presumptuous, maybe Allen was only being a considerate friend by brushing off the salt from his palm in the first place, and he didn't let go only because…only because…well, he didn't know, but perhaps he didn't feel the same way in the first place.

Lavi felt like such an idiot.

He sighed. Yet, not wanting the day to go to pieces because of this, he slapped on a huge grin and stood up, slipping his hand out of Allen's as he did so. Allen looked startled.

"Yeah…it's only, what, three o'clock? We still have loads of time, sprout, let's go hit some rides," Lavi said cheerfully. He bent down and started gathering some of the trash, avoiding Allen's eyes as he did so.

Allen, on his part, replayed the last few minutes in his head and nearly wanted to hit himself. Maybe he was being too obvious and Lavi…didn't feel the same way. Well, he let go of Allen's hand, and he looked relieved as he did so. No but, wait, wasn't Lavi the one who first held his hand? What if…what if this was just some huge joke played on him? As in, he knows Allen likes him, so he didn't want to hurt his feelings and just…held his hand, because…because he really wanted to, and Lavi sensed that, and held his hand just to appease him? And now he's, well, maybe he's not disgusted, but he doesn't know what to do? Yes, that's it, Lavi is being a good friend by pretending that nothing is wrong, so that's what he should do too…pretend nothing is wrong.

Allen clenched his fists before relaxing and putting on a smile. Avoiding Lavi's eye, he cleaned up around himself and walked to the dustbin near the bench, feeling Lavi following with his own armload of trash. While Lavi could not see him, he looked straight ahead and spoke up cheerily, trying to hide his anxiety.

"Alright then, let's…well, there's still that roller coaster we've yet to try, but the queue's long so…maybe something else. The pirate ship, alright?"

Allen silently congratulated himself on how steady his voice was. The trash dumped and with nothing else to give him an excuse not to look at Lavi, he turned and smiled at him. Lavi grinned back. There was another of those awkward silences that Allen hated, which made him really want to ask the question he meant to but…

He nodded in the direction of the rides and started in that direction, desperately latching onto another topic.

"Well…what, um, what has been happening your side, Lavi?"

"Nothing much…hmm, there _is_ this one play we're preparing for…"

He felt like such an idiot.

.

"How…how did that happen?" Maria looked dumbfounded. Mana was equally perplexed.

"Weren't they, wait, wasn't Allen just suggesting what to do next? I mean, they were holding hands…weren't they?"

Maria tugged the scarf off Mana's head and looked at him properly. "He backed out, Mana." Maria actually looked a bit upset at that. Mana frowned.

"Hey, don't…I mean, yes, he's my son and all that but, they have to figure it out on their own, right? Don't be upset," Mana tried to cheer her up. "Allen's brave, he'll probably confess at his own time. And Lavi, well, if he knows what he wants, he won't leave it at that."

Maria let out a little laugh and rubbed a finger quickly against her temple. "They were so close, Mana," she sighed. "They were going to confess, and then they would have continued this day on a romantic trip! And what's the Ferris Wheel for if not for them to go on at night, under the stars and, and…"

She stopped and looked away. Mana looked astonished. "Woah woah, hold on a sec, Maria, you're scripting out everything they're gonna do! I mean, these kids, they should do it their own way, their own pace, right?"

Maria sighed and for a while, Mana's brain whirred at how strangely she was acting. Technically, she hardly even knew these two boys, so it was rather weird what she just said. She suddenly sat up straight. "Yes, I suppose they do…well, Mana, what are we going to do, then?" There was a strange little smile on her lips and Mana couldn't, for the life of him, know what to do. He had a feeling that going in the direction of the rides would be the wrong thing to do.

"Let's…" Maria looked at him with a calm gaze. "Let's check out the stalls, shall we? I haven't had a good shot at those games that always cheat you out of your money. You know, those flimsy bullet games?" He chuckled when Maria's gaze suddenly lightened and her smile widened. "And then…let's grab some things for a picnic near the outdoor performance, yes?" Mana said, feeling a little more emboldened.

Maria laughed a little, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. Nodding, with her eyes shining a little, she took Mana's hand and tugged him up.

"Let's go then, Mana Walker," she said with a light lilt in her voice. And Mana smiled, sensing that he did something right this time.

.

3.26pm, The Performance Tent

"We're here rather early, aren't we?" Tyki commented, looking downcast. Lulubell merely continued to walk down the wooden steps, heading straight for the backstage in her impractical high heels.

"Complaining is unbecoming of you, Tyki. In any case, they weren't doing anything interesting," Lulubell said. She knocked on the door of the backstage area. "Yes, looking for the Earl, Lulubell and Tyki Mikk here to see him," she said to the man who answered the door.

"The Earl is going to make a fuss and make us stay here," Tyki pointed out while the guy hollered out for their family.

"Then we're just going to have to stay, aren't we – "

"Lulubell! And Tyki, m'boy! What a pleasant surprise!"

With an ever-present grin, the Earl shooed them in, calling for the twins and Road along the way.

"Really, there's no need to – " Tyki hastened to say.

"Nonsense, m'dear boy! It's rare enough that you take time out from your job to visit us. And Lulubell, my dear, sweet girl!"

"It's wonderful to see you, Earl," Lulubell said, accepting his smooch on her cheek.

"Tyyyyyyyyki! You never said you'll be here!" Road, energetic as ever, jumped on Tyki's back. "What made you come!"

"Ah, well, it was a good day to take a break – "

"Don't listen to him, Road. He's here stalking a fifteen year old boy," Lulubell said with a straight face.

"Lulu, you traitor – "

"Tyki-Tyk and Lulubell!" Jasdero called out, giggling, his arm around Devitt.

"Why, if it isn't our stuffy old man! What's this about you stalking jailbait?" Devitt called out loudly, leaving no doubt to the rest of the troupe that Tyki was a certified pedophile.

"Listen!" Tyki hissed. "I merely find him _interesting_, and I think I remember him from somewhere, so if you'd all kindly keep quiet – "

"Oh, m'dear boy, I understand," the Earl said with a twinkle in his eyes. "I really, really understand."

"You…do?"

"It's not that difficult, it's jailbait!"

"Jailbait, jailbait!"

"I wanna see him too!"

"Road, please, Sheryl will kill both him and me if you run at him. Twins, quiet. Lulubell, please stop looking at me like that. And, Earl…"

"Well, see, if he comes to see the performance, then all we have to do is to get you into our performance, for you to call him out as the volunteer and voila! Interaction and a chance for us to see him too!" The Earl looked utterly convinced of his plan. "And you can impress him with your tricks too! Then after that you can mingle with him and reveal it's you, he won't be so scared anymore, and you can ride off into the sunset!"

There was silence for a while. The circus master coughed pointedly, having at some point snuck up behind them.

"Um, Earl…I'm not quite sure what the matter is" – which was an utter and complete lie, anyone within the backstage area had heard the discussion loud and clear – "but you do see that I have to agree to the performer before he actually, uh, performs?"

"Oh, don't you worry about that!" The Earl said cheerfully. "Tyki here is very skilled at both cards and illusions. He can make it seem like his hand is going through your body!"

The man raised an eyebrow, suitably doubtful. Tyki exchanged glances with Road.

"Show them, Tyki-Tyk!"

"I'd thank you not to call me that," Tyki muttered, but in the end he sighed and obliged. Telling Road to stand still, he concentrated and – just a second later – there was a hand sticking out of Road's stomach, Road perfectly unhurt and unaffected. Despite their profession and the things they saw everyday the ladies around the room still screamed.

The master blinked. He struggled not to look too impressed. "Um…does that work for anybody he chooses, or just Road?"

The Earl beamed. "Anyone, of course! Tyki-Tyk?"

Tyki sighed. "Yes, I can do this for anyone. Within reason, of course. I haven't mastered it for a…rotund person yet."

"Well…then I see no reason not to accept. You will, of course, be paid for the day's work. Please start getting ready as soon as you can." Having said that, he ran off to holler for make up artists and clothes, apparently eager at seizing this money making opportunity.

Road giggled at Tyki's stunned face.

"See, you can do it! Just peek out before this and see where the boy is sitting! Wait," she narrowed her eyes, "he _is_ coming, isn't he?"

"I, I did overhear them talking about coming to the four-fifteen show…"

Road rolled her eyes. "You really are a stalker. Come on then, we need to show you where to stand and perform!"

With an excited tug, Road started to drag Tyki off, Tyki trying desperately not to look at Lulubell's who was sure to be smirking at him.

.

4.00pm, Behind The Shooting Stall

"Well." Lenalee folded her arms and contemplated her companion. Fou mirrored her, arms crossed and frown on her face. After an hour or so of witnessing the painfully awkward interaction between the boys, they finally decided to settle down and analyze the situation.

"So. Walker chickened out or what?"

"Wait, I thought it was Lavi that pulled his hand away that time?" Lenalee countered. Fou waved her hand in a dismissive manner.

"No no no, it's Walker, he said something that made red back down."

"I don't think it's Allen's fault," Lenalee frowned. "It's a two way thing, I think Lavi should have continued holding his hand if he were so sure, right?"

"You're just defending the sprout! Look, we know that Walker didn't even dare to call this a date, right? So he's just destroying his chances by not even continuing to just hold hands. Just, shit, it's so simple, so why can't he do that, huh?"

"Hold on, are you saying that Lavi is better? If he wanted it, then why didn't he take the initiative instead? Aren't we giving him too much credit here?"

"Then aren't we giving the sprout too much credit too, darling? Lena, I've known the sprout longer, he isn't going to change soon, he's still a coward."

Lenalee frowned again. "That's not fair. Look at what they've been doing. You can't say they didn't achieve something by holding hands! We've got to give him credit for that!"

"Yeah, and then he probably said something stupid and caused red to pull away. Wonderful." Fou met Lenalee's glare with her own.

"It's impossible to talk to you like this, Fou," Lenalee said tersely. Fou laughed, causing Lenalee to flinch.

"That's rather rich there, Lena! Ah, damn, this is all not working out…" She ran a hand through her hair, frustrated. Lenalee was indignant – it was not as if she was wrong! But still, calming down, she started to feel a little guilty at her loss of composure. It wouldn't do any good to argue like this, this was supposed to be fun. And so they could tease Allen later, not like this, not all the stress that came from a problem that was supposed to belong only to the two boys.

She wondered when this had turned from a simple stalking mission to an argument with one of her best friends.

"Fou…look, I'm sorry," Lenalee sighed, knowing that the argument was going nowhere. Fou looked up and gave the faintest hint of a smirk.

"Yeah, whatever," she said. Lenalee knew that was the closest to an apology she was likely to get; she suppressed her indignation again. "Just, alright, so…let's just continue with this. Where the heck are Shi Fu and Ri Kei anyway?"

Lenalee took out her phone. "They didn't leave a message…maybe they're still looking for Lou Fa."

"That silly girl," Fou sighed. "Alright, look, they're going to that stupid clown's tent now, are we going or not?"

Lenalee smiled faintly. She was starting to wonder about the point of all this herself. "Well…we came all the way here anyway, let's just…see this through to the end. And we still have twenty dollars to settle," she said in an attempt to somewhat lighten the mood.

Fou grinned, grabbing onto the change of topic eagerly. "I bet I win," Fou said confidently, taking a short-cut to the tent to reach there before the boys did. Lenalee laughed.

"So you're admitting that Allen might actually do something after all?"

"Red will, I'm sure. Oh, damn, stupid clown," she cursed as the same clown that had interrupted them before stood near the entrance, ushering and entertaining customers. Lenalee giggled, the sound coming out slightly high. Since when did her voice get stuck in her throat? Clearing it, she grasped Fou's tensed shoulder and followed her into the semi-darkness of the tent, a still silence hanging between them.

.

4.11pm, The Performance Tent

Allen quieted down as they entered the tent, taking in the sight of families everywhere and the children's excited murmurings. He smiled and relaxed in spite of what happened earlier. Beside him, Lavi himself smiled when he saw Allen relax a little, thinking that maybe Allen had forgotten all about just now.

"Well, sprout, been to a circus before?" He asked as he led them down the steps to seats somewhere near the aisle.

"Yeah, Mana brought me to one before. But it was kinda scary, cause I was very small. I thought the lions would eat us," Allen grinned, eyes soft. "Mana had to endure me gripping his hand so tightly. I think he complained for days afterwards. And the clowns were scary. Well, they are still scary now…" He looked at a couple of clowns that were entertaining the crowd, huge red smiles painted on white faces that distorted their looks. Lavi shuddered a little and Allen nodded in sympathy. "Yeah, just imagine looking at that when you're eight. Kids these days are braver."

Lavi could not for the life of him see how the kids the clowns were entertaining found them funny. He smiled though at the thought of an eight year old Allen clinging tightly to Mana, eyes wide and astonished at the acts the troupe must have been performing.

"I've never been to one," Lavi said. Allen turned quickly towards him, mouth open.

"Never? But…why not?"

Lavi smiled easily. "Gramps never found it necessary to bring me to one, so all I know about circuses are what I saw from the TV. Seems like fun though, I wish I'd been to one when I was younger."

"Oh…" Allen bit his lip. He had a determined look in his eyes. "Well, you're at one now, I hope this does justice to what you imagined it to be."

"I'm sure it will," Lavi said just as the lights began to dim down. He could feel Allen sit up straighter beside him, eyes excited, and involuntarily he felt a smile pull at his lips again. The circus master came out, a beam on his face and his top hat gleaming in the spotlight.

"Welcome, one and all, to _Noah's Ark_! We have a fantastic show lined up for you today…"

.

4.37pm, On The Main Street

"No," Doug said firmly, shaking his head. "The Platonists have it right when they said that math is to be discovered. How else can we explain the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics?"

Kanda frowned. "How can you be sure that much of the applied mathematics isn't invented by man? Why else would mathematicians have slaved over formulas for years if not because they had to invent it?"

It was amazing, Doug thought to himself, how much Kanda could talk once they hit upon the right topic. He batted the big bear and several miscellaneous items out of the way to talk more easily. Kanda fingered a pi-shaped pendent, a memorabilia he got from one of the many game stalls they'd been to.

Just as Doug was about to speak, however, a figure bumped into Kanda and the gifts that had been on a precarious balance spilled onto the floor. To Doug's amusement, stuffed toys and robots flew out of the figure's coat as well. He bent down to pick the items up, waving away the person's apologies at the same time.

He was startled when Kanda spoke with barely suppressed surprise.

"Komui?"

"Huh, what…Kanda!" The figure, apparently named Komui, gasped and stood from where he had been picking up his things. "I haven't seen you in ages! How have you been? Why didn't you call us? Where are you now? Oh," he quickly hid a robot which Doug couldn't help but find rather aesthetically displeasing. "Right, Kanda, you haven't answered my questions!"

Kanda growled. "I don't need to answer any of your questions, you insufferable sister complex."

Komui suddenly straightened up, looking around frantically. "Oh yes! You reminded me, where the hell are those deviants?" He cracked some of his knuckles, making Doug wince at the sound. "That redhead is more dangerous, I have to get rid of him first…" He muttered to himself.

Doug stood up, having finally gathered everything back into the same precarious balance. Knowing that Kanda wouldn't bother to introduce the two of them to each other, he spoke up. "Hi, Mr. Komui, I assume?"

Komui turned to him with a dangerous glint in his eyes before he calmed down slightly, looking Doug up and down. "Ah, yes. Apologies for knocking into you just now, uh…"

"Doug," he said with a smile. Komui nodded. Then he blinked.

"Doug, Kanda, have you seen a white-haired boy and a redhead just now?" He said as he fingered a boomerang that he must have gotten from one of the carnival's many souvenir shops. Doug gaped a little at the strange form of coincidence.

"Are you…surely you aren't referring to Lavi and Allen, are you, Mr. Komui?" He said.

"Allen? Lavi? Are those their names…yes, Lenalee mentioned their names before! Oh dear god, so they are after her! Quick, tell me where they went!"

"Lenalee?" Kanda said, and Doug was surprised and amused to see Kanda visibly shocked this time. "Komui, you idiot, what's this got to do with Lenalee?"

"Everything!" Komui waved his arms around wildly. "Lenalee came here today because of two boys, they must be after her! They are the ones who, oh god, they must have seduced her, those dirty things, and now they both want to make a move on her! I must stop them! And you two know them." He had a scary glint in his eyes, making Doug take a step back. Knowing that he was likely the more diplomatic of the two, he hastily corrected Komui first.

"Mr. Komui, I'm afraid you've made a mistake. You see, if it's the same two people we're talking about, I believe they aren't interested in, uh, your sister?" Doug guessed from what Kanda called Komui. "Well, I believe so because Lavi seems to be more interested in Allen himself, and vice versa, meaning…they are kinda not straight."

"Wait, what?" Komui blinked, stopping the caress of the deadly looking boomerang. "How sure are you?"

Kanda sighed. "That rabbit did not shut up all week about this stupid date with the stupid girly boy, idiot. He never mentioned Lenalee once."

Komui suddenly relaxed. Doug wondered how trustworthy Kanda must be to Komui, if Komui could so easily believe what he said. Then Komui started laughing sheepishly.

"Oh dear, and to think I bought all these to scare them…" Doug grimaced at the sight of one of those projectile shooting robots. "But!" Komui had a glint in his eyes again. "I will still need to protect her from the men. All those filthy men…and at the carnival, too! Now where did she go…" He put a hand to his chin, obviously thinking through some diabolical plan to destroy the men in a mile's radius around Lenalee. Doug shared a quick look with Kanda and went to Komui, placing a hand on the man's arm.

"Mr. Komui…why not let's calm down and have a coffee? I assure you your sister won't be harmed in the meantime," Doug said with a calm smile. Komui blinked.

"But how do you know-"

"Just shut up, idiot," Kanda growled and started off in the direction of a café, leaving Doug to firmly drag Komui behind them, resolutely ignoring the whines of the man about how he had to "save" Lenalee.

The rabbit will pay for all the trouble he had to put up with. He hoped his roommate was suffering, circus tent or wherever the hell he was.

.

5.20pm, The Performance Tent

"And now, we have a very special performance, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! If you've ever wished for the ability to walk through walls…this is the very man for you! Give it up for…Tease!"

"What a name," Lavi muttered. Allen snickered and agreed.

The lights dimmed and, with some suspenseful music these type of performances were known for, a spotlight flickered onto the center of the stage. A man stood there in a top hat and – as per performance style – heavily made up in near clownish make-up.

Allen and Lavi couldn't help but get the feeling, unanimously, that they had seen the man before. They just couldn't pin down the identity.

As the music started, the man started doing simple things. Holding up his cane and grasping it firmly, running his hands down it, and even tossing it to an audience member for them to check that it was authentic. When it was tossed back to him and the music started getting a little more sinister, that's when he ran his hand through it and allowed the cane to drop to the ground audibly.

Gasps of surprise and titters ran through the crowd, the previous silence replaced by sounds of wonder. To put a dent in the romantic atmosphere some realists tried desperately to explain the illusion in their minds. Lavi whistled.

"That _is_ quite something," he murmured in Allen's ear. Allen nodded and tried not to shiver.

Tease went through several more items. A book, a plate – apparently his head can go through objects too – and at one point of time even a dog brought into the stage that jumped through him with a look of utter confusion on its face. Cheers were ringing out by the time a young girl with spiky hair danced through Tease and out again.

But how do we know it's not all premeditated, Lavi thought.

At that exact moment, Tease called out in a voice that tugged at Lavi's memory. He _had_ heard it somewhere before. "Now, I'm sure you're all thinking, it must be just some trick of the light," he said smoothly. There were some nods in the audience although the children were far too excited to really care. "I will have to ask for a volunteer then."

Smiling, Allen sat back and watched all the excited faces in the audience. The children were obviously hoping to be chosen. The girl who had assisted Tease walked amongst the crowd and grinned, picking a girl who was wildly waving her hand around and then – to Allen's astonishment – picking…him.

"Me?" He asked just to be sure. She smiled and nodded.

"Go, Allen," Lavi said, laughing, giving him a push. Allen stumbled out of his seat to the brightly lit stage area.

"The lady first, then," Tease said gallantly, bowing and offering a hand to her. Allen, in his confusion, was meanwhile ushered to the side of the stage.

.

"Was that...Allen?" Lenalee asked, stunned. "He raised his hand?"

"Didn't know the sprout was for these kinda things," Fou muttered. "And Lavi just let him go so easily. He does realize that that gay Tease will be putting his hand in the sprout, doesn't he?"

.

In no time at all, it was Allen's turn as the young girl was ushered off the stage, utterly ecstatic and clutching what looked like a giant purple butterfly plushie in her arms.

"The gentleman, if you please," Tease called out. Allen swallowed and walked out, allowing Tease to take his arm.

Up close, he looked even more familiar – to Allen's frustration, he just couldn't place it. The grin tugged at his brain and made him shudder a little. He wondered at the chances of his pedophile being the same man before him…nah, couldn't be.

But to his utter dismay, unlike the simple motions Tease used for the girl (understandably, since she was obviously a child with her worried parents in the same place) it wasn't quite the same for Allen.

He was first made to hold Tease's hand, which was alright as Tease ran through it after a while. Then he had to hold still – that was still fine, he knew about performance etiquette and could guess what was going to happen – and Tease ran his hand from one end of his shoulder to the other end. Then it was Tease's foot through his ankles, which was still…alright…and then – oh, who was he kidding? Allen wanted to shudder, again. He was quite sure Tease put his hand nowhere near the girl's chest.

.

"Lavi looks like he's gonna burst a vein." Lenalee looked amused.

.

"Excuse me, Mr. Tease," Allen muttered low enough so that none of the audience could hear. Just in case, he kept up his too-bright smile to assure them that everything was fine. "Just – I am starting to feel violated, here."

"Oh?" Tease raised an eyebrow, looking amused. "Do not worry, it will end soon."

Allen thought he caught a glimpse of an unnaturally blinding grin from the backstage but when he looked again, properly, it was gone. Then Tease was guiding him to dance through his body like the girl during the performance did (except that this time, oh god, was it him or were his hips uncomfortably close to the man's? Was it within performance etiquette to accuse the performer of being a molester? Why the hell was everybody cheering for this?) and finally, finally, it was –

.

"Oh," Fou said, wide-eyed. She glanced from the stage to Lavi. "I think the redhead's gonna kill something." She looked rather impressed. Lenalee smothered a full-blown laugh.

.

His hand was kissed. Him. A man. His hand. Kissed.

"Thank you very much to this gentleman! A round of applause, please!" Tease called out and Allen was ushered off the stage to the sound of cheers and with a plushie stuffed into his arms in the meanwhile. He stumbled, dazed, back up to his seat.

Lavi was gritting his teeth.

"Uh…"

"Oh, Allen. Uh…interesting, wasn't it?"

"Look, it wasn't my bloody fault!" Allen finally burst out, dumping the plushie on the ground and looking at Lavi, hurt. Lavi was startled.

"No, no, I'm not blaming you, sprout – uh, why would I blame you anyway?" Lavi did look honestly confused.

"Well, I don't know, you were just…looking angry, and…oh, I don't know," Allen shook his head. "I think it's just me."

"Ah, you were kinda…defensive there, sprout," Lavi tried, starting to realize maybe…something.

"I was not!" Allen snapped. "You were the one looking jealous!"

Lavi blanched. "No! I was _not_! It's just, you were looking uncomfortable when _that_ man was touching you everywhere!"

Allen was about to retort when he paused, raising an eyebrow. The beginnings of a smirk tugged at his mouth. "Were you…jealous, Lavi?"

"I told you I'm not!" Lavi said, glaring at him as best as he could while flustered. "Look, people are staring, let's just watch the show, okay?" Lavi huffed and resolutely turned his attention away from Allen, closing their argument.

Allen was suddenly – despite being sure that he was just violated – quite…happy. Ridiculously happy. He examined Lavi's side profile and was amused to see Lavi nearly pouting, his cheeks slightly red. He wondered – but then, the hand thing in the morning – he shouldn't risk it in this place – it was the wrong time, he was moving too fast – but they were just arguing like a _couple_…

Lavi felt Allen bump his shoulder against his, an old way of them communicating when they had their disagreements. After a while, Lavi grinned weakly, bumped back and, just for good measure, he reached up to ruffle Allen's hair. Maybe a little harder than he usually would – he still wasn't happy that…Tease…touched him all over…

Allen gave him a half scowl, his eyes holding a mixture of his usual defiance at having his hair ruffled and some sort of, well, happiness? Well. Lavi didn't know what he was happy about – him no longer pursuing their previous topic? That…Tease? – but he just grinned back and after a moment's hesitation slung his arm over Allen's shoulder. He still wasn't quite sure their disagreement over something so silly was over yet, but he resolved to let it stay there lest any performance called for a volunteer again. Allen didn't seem to mind too much anyway, the boy relaxing under the weight of his arm, eyes focused on the contortionists who were dancing out onto the stage.

Lavi allowed himself to relax for the first time in hours, entertaining the hope that things might be…alright, just alright again.

* * *

**Notes**:

Oh, Lavi. You were jealous, you _so_ were.

Erm… *inserts apology and flees* No, wait, that won't work. I'm very sorry this took so long! D: Please forgive me? The good news is that the school semester is over and I can work on the final chapter! It can be a Christmas present! :D *feeble attempts at appeasement*

A shorter chapter for once (since Act I anyway). It was combined with Act V at first, but the mood doesn't fit completely, plus the chapter was far too long for my liking. And I have an aesthetic reason for making it five acts – Shakespeare plays and maybe other traditional plays have mostly taken place in five acts, let's see if this can be done here too~ Your player presents to you our "conflict" Act, which is also my transition Act, I decided.

Let's pretend I did not rewrite and discard scenes *sobs* It took me so long to get Tyki where I wanted him to be. I really adore him, stalker tendencies and all, and he was sorely neglected and seen as a pedophile all around in Act III. Guys, he's not _just_ a pedophile. He's a sweet guy who's bullied by his family and who had entirely too much fun dancing with Allen. Oh, please don't ask me how he did his illusions in real life, I have absolutely no clue, it is a skill directly imported from the manga. Oh, forgive me for the math argument between Doug and Kanda too, it was dug out from some horrific memory of a mathematical module I just suffered through, it probably has tons of inconsistencies.

Finally, things are on the mend, rest assured – I mean, look, Lavi got _jealous_ and Allen got _defensive_! And we must thank Tyki for inadvertently pushing them to this stage! The hand-dropping incident? What? Oh, that…it was kinda…necessary :D

Comments are always loved, thank you for the lovely reviews for last chapter! And thank you for waiting so patiently! (:

P.S. In the long struggle with school I somehow managed to post an Allen/Lavi ship manifesto *g* I'd be stoked if you check it out: community. livejournal. com/ ship_manifesto/ 250333 .html :D Just do the usual of removing the spaces~ Thank you dear readers! I hope you enjoy it! Lord knows I enjoyed writing it (:


	5. Act V: All's Well That Ends Well

**Act****V**: All's Well That Ends Well

**Summary**: We learn about love and life everywhere. That holds true for our stalkers as well. Join them in the end of their journeys – this is more than the story of two boys.

Speaking of which, what will happen to our favourite duo? Will the boys reach the top of the world in a conveniently situated Ferris Wheel, kiss with the backdrop of fireworks, and finally get their happy ending? Will they kill our dear audience with romantic realizations of how sweet each other's mouth tastes (like fruit, and sweet wine, throw in a flower or two on top of that)? Will your director be lobbed at with rotten tomatoes for not fulfilling every fangirl's desire?

Read on, dear friends, the stage for the final act is set.

* * *

6.15pm, Outside The Performance Tent

When the two boys came out from the tent chattering excitedly, Lou Fa had to swallow the lump in her throat. Beside her, Bak placed a hand on her shoulder, offering some form of comfort. They stood where they couldn't be seen by the boys but from where they could catch snatches of their conversation.

"…and the acrobats…stunts…" Lavi looked amazed, while Allen just flapped his hands dismissively.

"…nothing…see the…lions? That was…" Allen said with shining eyes.

At Bak's nudging, they moved a little closer to the boys.

"Seriously, the clowns are still scary. The twins? My god, the way they bent," Lavi shuddered dramatically and Allen snickered.

"I can't believe you screamed when they sprinkled water on us. Honestly. You never saw it on the TV before?"

"Hey!" Lavi protested. "How was I to know it was part of the show! Oh," he narrowed his eye, "you're laughing, are you?" Allen shook his head even while he muffled his laughter with his hand. "Oh, I'll get you for this."

When Allen tossed his head back and laughed, Lou Fa looked at the ground. Bak drew her away and wordlessly invited her on a walk in the opposite direction from the way the boys were headed. When they were a sufficient distance away, in a quieter part of the grounds where there was a fountain and benches scattered around, Bak spoke up softly.

"Be honest with yourself. Have you seen Walker like that before, with your group?"

Lou Fa sighed and shook her head. Bak smiled a little.

"When you really like someone, uh, I'm not sure how to put it…that's how Walker was. I'm sure he thinks of all of you as good friends, but you'll have to give up on him. Hey, you'll find a much better person next time who likes you back as much as you like him. Honestly," Bak said a silent apology to the boy he was talking about, "you deserve better."

Lou Fa shot him a weak glare. "Allen's a great person, Mr. Chang."

"And while it hurts my manly heart to say this, you're a good girl too, Lou Fa," Bak said with utmost sincerity despite the theatrical grasp he made at his chest, as though he was hurt at such sentimentality. Lou Fa giggled.

"Alright…I'll try, Mr. Chang," she said with a brave smile on her face. "Thank you…oh, Mr. Chang, do you have the time with you?"

Bak glanced at his watch. "Nearly six-thirty, why?"

Lou Fa smiled. "Shall we go meet Ri Kei and Shi Fu, Mr. Chang? I'm sure they'll be happy to talk to you too."

Bak grinned. "Sure thing, Lou Fa. Lead the way, lead the way."

And with a smile that was not entirely bright, but which was sincere and contented, Lou Fa led the way back to where her two friends must be worrying about her.

.

6.32pm, The Shooting Stall

Two roller coaster rides later, Allen was sufficiently convinced that they had fallen back into the easy camaraderie of before, and if he was lucky Lavi had forgotten all about the stupid hand-holding thing. Lavi was currently eyeing the shooting stall, obviously calculating the probabilities of actually being able to win something.

"Don't you have terrible depth perception?" Allen asked, eyebrows raised. Lavi glared at him in mock hurt.

"I can shoot better than you any day, you arrogant sprout," Lavi said with a sniff. Allen's eyes narrowed at the challenge.

"Oh, will you? I accept this challenge then," Allen said, placing his money down on the table. The stall owner then looked at Lavi who placed his own coins down with a grin.

"I'll go first then, sprout?"

"Be my guest," Allen said, smiling. He stepped back to give Lavi space.

To his dismay, Lavi proceeded to shoot all the cups down effortlessly, incurring an audible groan from the owner. He thought he caught something like "second time today" from him but ignored it, focusing instead on the wide grin Lavi was sporting. He narrowed his eyes.

"Well then, Al-len, be _my_ guest," Lavi said, throwing Allen's words back at him. Allen huffed and after loading the gun with foam bullets, he took aim.

To his embarrassment, his first shot didn't succeed in tumbling even a single cup. As he cursed and took careful aim with his second, he felt a hand on his, another one coming up to adjust the gun.

"Not like that, sprout." Allen, caught off guard, flushed at the sound of Lavi's voice near his ear. "You need to aim a little higher with these cheater stalls…there we go." And was it his imagination, or did Lavi move away a little slower than he should have?

Despite his thumping heart, Allen did manage to shoot the cups this time, winning a prize that was only a rung lower than Lavi's. He lowered his head in slight embarrassment.

"Hey," Lavi's hand clapped onto his shoulder warmly. "First time for everything, eh? Here," he pushed a rather adorable stuffed toy whale into Allen's arms, nudging the butterfly to the side as though by accident. "I've always liked rabbits better. My namesake, you know," Lavi said with a shrug as he plucked the stuffed toy rabbit from Allen's arms.

Allen huffed. "Don't be condescending, Lavi." He glared at the whale's innocent smile, though it was evident his heart wasn't in it. Lavi grinned and spun around to walk backwards, ignoring the grumbles of the people he knocked into. Allen gave them an apologetic smile on Lavi's behalf.

"But you've had this secret love of whales ever since 'Finding Nemo'! Don't deny it," he said when Allen glared at him, "you were forever making Dory's whale noises."

"Was not!" Allen retorted in a very mature manner. Lavi raised an eyebrow. Grinning, he shot out a hand, grabbing Allen's. Without giving himself a chance to regret the action, he turned and pulled Allen with him, settling into a jog.

"Come on, sprout, there's something I want to do before it gets dark!" Lavi called to Allen as they weaved in and out of the crowd. Allen just turned his head away, willing Lavi not to see how happy he was when Lavi grabbed onto his hand.

"Wait, are you changing the topic, Lavi? Lavi!" Allen said with narrowed eyes as Lavi hummed louder to drown out his voice.

.

6.57pm, Near The Children's Rides

"I – " Lenalee closed her mouth and swallowed. She looked down and started again, her voice low. "I guess I was wishing I was with someone I liked myself."

On a patch of grass near the kiddy rides, they observed two boys who had just entered one of those spinning tea cups. Lavi took control of the wheel while waiting for the ride to start. Instead of looking at him, Fou glanced at her.

"That why you suggested this?" She asked. Her eyes crinkled up as she smirked. The ride had started with Lavi spinning as fast as he could, cheerfully ignoring Allen's green face.

"Maybe…" Lenalee played with a blade of grass. "I used to have a little crush on Lavi, but I never dared to act on it. Now, well, I don't anymore, I'm glad he found someone. In my freshman year he was kinda…cold. I don't know. But yeah, he's been a lot happier since he met Allen."

Fou hummed. She brought a thumb up to her lips and chewed on it lightly.

"Fou?"

She nodded in response. Lenalee drew another breath. "Fou, do you have anyone you…like?"

To her surprise, Fou smirked and nodded again without any hesitation. Lenalee's mouth dropped open. She honestly thought Fou would have been the last one among their group of friends to have a romantic relationship!

She leaned forward, curious. "Who? Do I know him?"

Fou laughed. "If I told you it's someone twelve years older than I am, what would you think?"

Lenalee blinked at the unexpected answer. "Well, I, uh…" She floundered around for something to say. "That's…unexpected…"

Fou laughed again, though it was kind. "Lena, don't get your head into a spin over this. We were childhood friends."

"Huh…what's he like?" Lenalee suppressed a giggle as the two boys climbed out of the tea cup, Allen on wobbly legs and Lavi not bothering to smother his laughter.

"He's an idiot."

Lenalee blinked. "I thought you hate idiots."

"Yeah, he's a bigger idiot than anyone else. It's so fun to tease him," Fou rubbed her hands together in glee. "He breaks out into the worst hives ever if he thinks of a pretty lady."

"Wait, you're not jealous of that?" Lenalee asked, looking incredulous. Fou snickered.

"What's there to be jealous of?" She said in such a matter-of-fact tone that Lenalee was taken aback. The idea that two people could like each other so much that they didn't even suspect each other of infidelity…she wondered with not a little envy whether she could have that with somebody else.

"Lena," Fou said with a sigh in her voice. "Lena, don't rush it. Look at them. They're blundering everything up, but they'll do it on their own time."

Lenalee's smile was tremulous. She clasped her hands together in her lap. "It's just, it seems like everyone else, except me…"

Fou scoffed. "You're an idiot too," she waved her hand dismissively at the weak glare Lenalee sent her. "There's no point rushing this. Some people fall in love at ten, some at fifty, so what? You're an idiot for thinking that you need to be in love. Bullshit. Some don't even fall in love, at least you've had a crush."

"But that's easy for you to say, you have that someone, you can do this," she gestured in the general direction of the rides, from which the two boys have already disappeared. "I…I don't even know what I want to do…I'm a senior already, I'll have to move out into the world soon!"

"You think it's that easy? Lena, think a little. He's twelve years older than me, he has a job, I have school, you think we meet up every weekend? You think we live so close to each other that we can see each other anytime we want? We had a date a month ago, and today when he wanted to ask me out his stupid friend had to go drag him somewhere important! Lena, it's not easy, it's not all peaches and roses! Look at them!" As Lenalee did so a moment ago, she gestured at the rides. "It's not easy for them either! See how long it took them to even hold hands!"

Lenalee recoiled as if she had been hit. Fou sighed, lowering her voice a little.

"Look, Lena, all I'm saying is, let things take their course. Don't listen to what your brother says about men," she said with a snort, "anyway, I'm pretty sure he has accepted the fact that one day you'll find someone."

Lenalee's lips twitched up into a small smile then, and she ducked her head. The darkness settling around them made it easier to hide the embarrassed flush she had when Fou gave her little lecture. And in a way…

She felt better. She felt lighter, somehow, the tight feeling she had in her shoulders having been somehow released.

"Thanks, Fou…" She murmured.

"Hmph, whatever," Fou muttered, looking away. She proceeded to stand up, taking her time as she did so, and brushing the grass off the seat of her jeans once she was on her feet. "Come on, let's see if they've finally got their act together."

With a chuckle, Lenalee nodded and stood up as well, heading with Fou back to the bright lights of the carnival.

.

7.27pm, Hillside Picnic Table

When Lavi returned with the huge load of food (what he saw as undeserved punishment for exacting his own revenge on Allen with the teacup ride), it was to find the boy sitting at a picnic table toying with the fur of his whale, eyes glazed over as he watched the dancers around the huge bonfire. He placed the food on the table and settled beside Allen, watching what he found so fascinating.

The performers were there too, mingling with the general crowd and dancing one of the more traditional folk dances. Lavi thought he caught sight of what looked suspiciously like one of his professors dancing with a short girl with spiky hair. He dismissed that and turned his gaze around the fire, smiling when he saw the twin clowns goofing around by inventing their own dance steps. Some children were even pulling their parents into the dance. It was almost surreal from afar, though Lavi knew that if they were there they would have felt the heat from the fire, the sweat collecting on the back of their shirts. But as it was, far from the midst of the dance, it could have been a scene straight out of the movies.

Well, Lavi slapped at a mosquito that landed on his neck, if there weren't creepy crawlies that spoiled the scene. He heard the rustle of food wrappers being pushed aside and Allen munching on a sandwich, gaze still on the dance.

"Must be your blood type," was the murmur that came in between bites of food. Lavi blinked.

"Sorry?"

"Mine's O…the mosquitoes leave me well alone then."

Lavi chuckled. "Doesn't hold, sprout. I'm type O as well."

"Ah," was the simple reply as Allen resumed eating his food. Lavi glanced at Allen, noting his dazed conversation and now his uncharacteristic silence. Then he reached for his own food as well, eating his own smaller sandwich steadily while Allen started on his third.

Now, without the distraction of the rides, Lavi thought of what he now dubbed the hand-holding incident and played it through his mind again. He combined that with several other incidents throughout the day – testing Allen at the shooting booth – and later holding his hand to pull him to the teacups...

Perhaps it was foolish, thinking that he had a chance with Allen. After all, Allen did hesitate when they were on the bench…but he did not seem uneasy after that. He didn't push away Lavi's hand or arm or any of the other hundred small touches they had after that. And now, as Allen finished his food and remained staring at the dancers, maybe he wanted to participate in the dance too.

Could he? Would he have the courage?

Swallowing, Lavi bunched up his wrapper and tossed it into the paper bag with the rest of the rubbish. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Allen, who seemed to have finally noticed him and had turned away from looking at the dance, a smile on his face which faltered when he saw Lavi's intense gaze.

"…Lavi?"

"Allen – would you like to join me, at the bonfire?"

Allen's mouth worked, searching for words. His mind started whirring, jolted awake from the peaceful doze it had been in when he mindlessly watched the dancers. Maybe…Lavi could have been asking him to dance as friends, but…maybe it was something more. Well, he could also have this chance to touch Lavi for a longer time than usual, so…

He gulped then looked up, nodding. With a grin, Lavi reached for Allen's hand and pulled him up from the bench. Allen half expected Lavi to drop his hand once they had stood up but it remained there, slightly grimy from the day's sweat and the food they ate, but warm and with quite the reassuring grip. With a pull, they were on their way down the hillside to join the messy congregation of people around the fire.

.

7.54pm, Near The Bonfire

"I didn't know you're a professor at Cartes' too, I never saw you around…" Doug said thoughtfully. He was standing with Kanda and Komui near one of the hot food stalls, watching the dance with interest. Kanda, in spite of himself, was curious about the Physics and Math professor. He had to grudgingly admit that it was an incredible act of genius to be able to be a professor in two disciplines at his young age.

Komui chuckled, cupping his hands around a Styrofoam cup of warm coffee. "You'll probably have me in your classes in your second year, I teach level 2000 and above."

Doug hummed. It was surprisingly fun talking to Komui once they got past the whole overprotective brother act and found out that he was actually their university professor. "Oh, Mr. Komui, look," he pointed out a conspicuous head of white and a redhead at the bonfire. "That's them, see how they're dancing with only each other?" Komui watched closely, still clinging on to the last vestiges of suspicion that the two of them were after his sister. However, all he could see was Allen stumbling over the dance steps, sending both him and Lavi into fits of giggles as they tried to keep up with the music. Lavi's arm was twisted awkwardly as Allen took the wrong left turn again, making him squawk and Allen release his arm with an apologetic look.

Kanda smiled and turned away from the sight of them, well, flirting, for lack of a better word. Doug laughed when he saw Tyki as well. "And that's Lavi's history professor…do you know him, Mr. Komui?"

Komui's eyes followed the direction he was pointing at and he hummed a little, recognizing the university professor.

Kanda let out a small sound of frustration. "Idiot, Lenalee's there with another girl. Unless you're worried she likes girls, stop your damn panicking."

Komui whipped his head around to see Lenalee and Fou eating ice cream, Lenalee giggling while Fou just sighed and ate the ice cream quickly before it melted. He smiled in relief at how his sweet, innocent, pure and virtuous Lenalee wasn't getting chased at by unworthy men.

"Oh, they're moving off," Doug observed as the crowd cheered and threw the last pieces of wood into the fire, the music settling into lively tunes for those who wanted to stay behind and continue dancing. Allen had grabbed Lavi's arm and was saying something to him. The two of them moved off after that.

"Well," Komui pushed his spectacles up. "I can't deny being interested myself in what happens in the end. Let's go, Kanda, Doug!" Komui said with an all too childish glee in his voice, now that he had ascertained neither of the boys was after Lenalee. Kanda, to his dismay, found himself being pulled along by Komui, unable to shake off the firm grip on his elbow.

.

8.20pm, Near The Ferris Wheel

"Oh," Lou Fa said as they stopped near the Ferris Wheel, watching the boys join the long queue to get in. "This…it's like from the movies."

Ri Kei gaped in shock before he recovered his senses. "Wait, Walker's gonna confess there? How much more clichéd can it get!"

Shi Fu shook his head. "Calm down, you two. It could just be an innocent ride – " He blinked at the three looks shot his way. "Right. You agree with them, Mr. Chang?"

"Well," Bak looked up at the contraption. "You have to admit this is awfully reminiscent of the movies. Couple gets to the top, couple kisses, fireworks go off, and when they come down they're suddenly all blushing and not looking at each other. Yeah, I'd say this is it."

"Lou Fa?" Ri Kei said quietly, bending down nearer to the girl's face. She shook her head.

"I'm okay…I hope Allen will confess. I hope Lavi returns his feelings…"

Shi Fu sighed and placed his hand on top of her head, patting lightly. "You don't have to force it, you know."

Lou Fa ducked her head. "I know…but I do hope he's happy."

"We know."

.

8.35pm, The Ferris Wheel

When they had settled into their compartment and the usher closed their door, the click signaling it was locked, Lavi became hyper-aware of the silence. Allen looked out the window as their cabin started moving slowly into the night sky.

"It's…" Lavi then shook his head, deciding not to stoop to making small talk. "You said you wanted to say something, sprout?"

Allen jumped a little as he turned from his contemplation of the scenery to Lavi. He blinked and looked down at his lap, suddenly hesitant on what to say. He half wondered why Lavi had suggested the Ferris Wheel as a good place to talk and end their day out.

Their cabin moved upwards, soon giving them a view of the whole carnival, the colourful lights around the center performance tent almost mesmerizing.

Yet Lavi found himself unable to appreciate the outside view. His heart was thumping, faster than usual, and he found himself clenching and unclenching fistfuls of his shirt material. He wondered what Allen had to say. The hand-holding…and Allen perhaps now telling him he didn't feel the same.

Allen swallowed. "When you held my hand just now…"

Lavi breathed shakily, almost relieved that the topic finally came up. At least they could settle this once and for all.

Allen looked to the side, eyes vaguely taking in the scenery. "You let go of it, so I don't quite know now and…ah," he rubbed his palm over his face, "damn it, that's not what I wanted to say."

For a moment, he was scared that Allen was crying, then realized that Allen was just frustrated. He attempted a smile but when that failed, he settled for a little quirk of his lips. "Sprout?"

"Right, right," Allen said, breathing heavily out. He closed his eyes, collecting his thoughts. In the strained silence, Lavi cast about for something to concentrate on, to distract him from the thoughts clouding his head and making his heart beat so damn hard. He nearly jumped when Allen spoke again. Their cabin was then lowering to the ground and preparing to go on the final round before they had to get off.

"I…I don't know when it started, or how, or whether I should be…" Allen shifted in his seat, smiling faintly. "Mana and I even quarreled about this a little, in my sophomore year." Lavi blinked, remembering the day when he had found Allen subdued on the spectator's stands during lunch period. "We've come to terms with it and…I must be irritating the hell out of you now," Allen observed. He blinked up at Lavi.

Lavi shook his head, gesturing for him to go on, almost _desperate_ for him to go on.

Allen breathed out and then, with a sudden resolve, he looked at Lavi straight in the eye, his own eyes wide and frightened but determined.

"I like you, Lavi."

When Lavi let his breath out in a whoosh, he didn't even realize that he had been holding it all the while. The worst seemingly over with, Allen smiled and went on.

"When you asked me whether I like anybody…it's you, Lavi. It has been for a while. I…I guess I rather fancy you, and…"

Allen registered the faint sounds of laughter and shrieks coming from outside the cabin, the world finally intelligible to his previously fear-gripped mind. "And I guess…that's all I wanted to say."

Silence reigned once more in their cabin. It passed the tallest point and made its way back to the ground, both of them knowing they'd have to get out soon. Slightly nervous, but much calmer than he was before he had admitted it, Allen looked at Lavi's unreadable face.

"Well…I suppose I'd like you to say something now. Even if it's a rejection," he said, trying to make light of the fact that he'd be devastated – well, okay, maybe not so bad, but he'd definitely be a little crushed – if Lavi were to reject him.

And yet, like a really failed movie scene, the cabin touched down and the same usher opened the door, gesturing for them to step down for the next batch of passengers. Feeling a lot more subdued than when he went onto the ride, Allen stood up and was about to make his way out of the cabin when a hand grabbed his. Frozen in shock, he did not dare turn to look at Lavi.

"Come with me, sprout," Lavi said quietly before he tugged Allen out of the cabin, the usher taking a startled glance at their clasped hands before politely averting his eyes. Allen, able to see only Lavi's blind side, swallowed and just followed, not knowing what Lavi wanted.

.

"I don't think they did it," Fou said. She looked grumpy. Lenalee's face echoed her disappointment.

"Well, let's follow them anyway," she said.

Unknown to her, several other groups of people made the same decision, heading down paths that all led away from the main carnival area.

.

8.51pm, A Small Clearing

"Lavi?" Allen finally dared to question after they stopped at a small patch of field, still within sight of the carnival but far from the mass of people. Lavi let go of his hand and Allen bowed his head, resigned to the fact that Lavi was probably about to reject him in the kindest way possible.

Then, inexplicably, Lavi started chuckling, hand covering his eye and body shaking. Allen stared at him, mind blank.

Lavi didn't show any signs of stopping. Allen's jaw slowly clicked back close, a flush coming to his cheeks when he thought Lavi was making fun of him for his feelings.

"What are you laughing for! If you don't like me that way, that's fine, just say so!" He cried, astonished when his words only made Lavi chuckle harder. Finally, after enduring his laughter for a few more seconds, Lavi turned to face him, the guy shaking his head in slight awe.

"It's just…do you know how ironic your words are, beansprout?" Lavi said, his eye twinkling. Allen frowned even as his shoulders sagged at the thought that at least, at the very least, Lavi did not seem disgusted.

"What…what do you mean?"

"I thought it was obvious enough, sprout," Lavi sighed and took a step forward, looking Allen in the eyes. Allen allowed himself to hope for a moment that Lavi was…

"I'm not sure if I want to pay back by making you wait, for as long as you made me wait while you rambled…" Lavi mused, a hand coming up to rub his chin.

"Just…what? What is it, Lavi?"

"I meant that you, Allen Walker, are as silly as I am. I like you too, beansprout, and I have for a while, and I thought you hated me when I held your hand."

Amazingly, for all that, Allen's brain stuttered and chose to respond only to the last part.

"What, but, I don't _hate_ you!"

"Huh? Oh, oh man," Lavi bowed his head down, chuckles turning into full-blown laughter now. "All that, and you can only say you don't hate me! Well duh, I was hoping that you like me instead, as you said you do."

"I do! I, wait, Lavi, this is…" Allen shook his head, attempting to clear it. "You…I…huh?"

"Very eloquent, sprout. Let me put it plainly for you," Lavi took a step closer again. "You like me," he poked Allen's forehead, "and I like you," he poked it again, enjoying the sight of Allen's eye twitching, "and we were both idiots to take so long to say that." Allen finally succeeded in batting his hand away. Then, in the pause that followed, he looked up at Lavi's eye that was soft, twinkling in the small amount of light they were getting from the carnival lights.

"You do?" Allen asked, not daring to believe.

"What's this, a marriage proposal? Fine then, I do, I solemnly take you to be my boyfriend in arms against the whole wide world," Lavi said, eye twinkling. Allen's breath came out shakily – his eyes were wide. He proceeded to laugh in gasping breaths. Lavi looked very amused.

"_Oh __god_. You're such an idiot, even now."

"I am, aren't I?"

With a jolt, Allen realized that Lavi had breathed those words very near him. Looking up, he swallowed when he saw that Lavi was very close to him now. His hands had reached down to take both of Allen's. Allen looked down, up, down again, not quite sure where to focus his gaze.

"Well…I'm not quite sure what the next step is, sprout...though I do have some idea."

"I, um…just…whatever you were thinking of doing?"

"Hmm, yeah, I guess, since I've been thinking about this for a while…"

He looked up again, realizing that Lavi was so very near, and that, oh, oh god, they were going to…

.

"Oh for freak's sake, hurry up already," Fou whispered, swiping at her face where the bushes scratched her. Lenalee was equally impatient.

"I can't believe they are finally doing this."

"Me neither…" Lenalee whispered. Then she frowned at the unfamiliar voice and turned around, just preventing herself from screaming. "Who are you!"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Doug scrambled back and nodded in apology. "I'm a friend of Lavi's, I assume you know those two? I'm very sorry, I was addressing someone else…"

"That's…that's alright," Lenalee said, taking care to whisper. "But if that's the case, then…"

"Lenalee?" Said a quiet, gruff voice. Lenalee turned and gaped.

"Kanda! What, oh my, what…I haven't seen you in forever – "

"Shh! All of you idiots, shut up!" Fou hissed. Lenalee made her way over to the tree which Kanda was leaning against.

"Kanda, oh, oh my!" She held herself back from hugging the man, wondering if he still hated physical contact even after all these years. "You're…"

Kanda looked off to the side and before Lenalee could react, a blur rushed at her. "Brother!"

"Lenalee! I've been so worried, you were out here, and I thought those two were after you!"

"Allen and Lavi? What? But they're both – "

"Seems like a party here," an amused voice floated over from the bushes, Ri Kei having chosen to scramble into the same bush where Fou was hiding. Fou grinned.

"Haven't seen you three since the afternoon – Bak!" Fou looked astonished. "I thought you were – "

"Fou! Listen, I really wanted to, but Komui – "

"Shit," Ri Kei muttered as he lost his balance when Lou Fa leaned against him. "Lou Fa, don't, shit!"

"What the hell – " Fou squawked.

.

Back in the clearing, Lavi was about to realize his trashy romance novels scene when there was a loud disturbance from behind Allen. Allen jumped and spun around. Then his jaw dropped for the umpteenth time that day.

"Fou! What, what are you – is that Ri Kei with you?"

"Oh _shit_, sprout, uh, don't mind us, just go on with your kis – "

"Wait, what the hell, why are you guys there – "

"Fou!" Allen gaped as Lenalee pulled at Fou. "You interrupted the best part! Oh, oh no, Allen, Lavi, don't mind us, okay, we're just going to go back to watch – I mean, uh, go back to, uh – "

"I think that's rather too late," someone said in an amused voice and this time it was Lavi's turn to gape.

"Doug! Wait, what, if you're here, does that mean-"

"Goddamnit, Komui!"

"Yuu!"

"Since we've blown our cover anyway!" Komui said cheerfully. "Hello, you heathens, thank you for being gay and therefore not chasing after Lenalee."

"_Brother_!"

"Hold on, were you the one who attacked us in the bathroom – "

"Um, I think you guys need to calm down," Shi Fu interjected much too late.

"Oh my, what a party here." Allen spun around at the voice.

"Mana! And, Maria, are you Maria?" Poor Allen looked dumbfounded. Lavi couldn't say he blamed him.

"Pleasure to meet you, Allen Walker, only I wish it weren't under such chaotic circumstances," Maria gave a polite bow which Allen returned in reflex.

"Since it's all such a mess anyway – Bak! Explain! What the hell did you have to do that was so important?"

"I told you already, it was all that idiot Komui's – "

"Don't blame things with your girlfriend on me just because – "

"Kanda, I really think you should give up trying to escape, since we're here already – "

"Alright, okay, STOP!"

It was a miracle that everyone quieted down at Lavi's shout. Then there was an awful lot of fidgeting and guilty glances thrown around. Allen rubbed his temples.

"Okay…" Lavi breathed out. "Doug?"

"Um, well," Doug laughed sheepishly. "See, we thought it'd be interesting to see what happened and um, Prof. Tyki insisted and so we just came along-"

"Prof. Tyki?" Lavi looked scared now. Doug shook his head frantically.

"He went away somewhere else!"

"And, Yuu…too?"

"Don't drag my name into this, stupid rabbit. I came only because – "

"Actually, Kanda here was rather curious as well," Doug said brightly.

"What the f – "

"I sense we're going nowhere with this," Allen said, tone dry. He turned to Lenalee. "Lenalee? Care to explain?"

Lenalee laughed nervously. "Well, see, we were just, um, rather curious you see! And, you know, you were blushing an awful lot, so we figured it must be a date you're going on even though you denied it…"

"Sprout, we were curious. Get over it. Anyway, we weren't there the whole time – well, most of the time. Bak?"

"I told you, Komui got it into his head that the two of you were after Lenalee and so he had to come protect her – "

"Wait, in my defense, it _was_ very suspicious. Lenalee, you never told your dear brother what you were doing," Komui sniffled. Lenalee sighed, exasperated.

"Please take my word for it when I say I'm going out with friends, alright, brother?"

"Okay…" Allen breathed out and turned, face with an embarrassed flush, to his father. "Dad?"

Mana had the grace to look sheepish. "I was curious, son, so, well, I came here to see how you were doing. In _my_ defense," he said quickly as Allen's eyes narrowed, "it turned into a real date along the way." At that, Maria looked away, humming. Mana had an identical pleased look on his face. Allen blinked. He couldn't help his lips twitching up before he turned back to face the whole group.

"In a sentence," Lavi summed up, "you guys were all stalking us – including my professor – because you were interested in our love lives."

"Something like that," Doug shrugged.

"Well, if you put it that way," Lenalee acquiesced.

"Right to be overprotective?" Mana suggested.

"Oh my god," Allen put his face in his hand. "How am I ever gonna face you guys again?"

"Well, you guys could just kindly scram – " Lavi gave Mana a politely apologetic look. "And we can…aw, shit, the mood is completely gone."

Lenalee looked desperately sorry. "We're really sorry, Lavi, we'll just – "

"I'm…glad."

And just as it was a few minutes ago, everyone quieted down, looking at Lou Fa. Lou Fa smiled sincerely. "I'm glad you got the courage to confess, Allen."

"Lou Fa…" Shi Fu patted her back proudly and Ri Kei grinned, grabbing her into a noogie. Lou Fa squeaked and laughed lightly, looking down at the ground.

"I…I think that sums it up in a word, Allen, Lavi," Lenalee said, smiling. "We were all concerned, and now we're just…_glad_."

Allen looked like he was caught between being touched and being embarrassed. In the end he chose to smile. "Well…I'm," his smile widened when Lavi took his hand, giving it a squeeze, "I guess I, uh, thank you all for your concern." Lavi sighed and nodded, agreeing.

In the brief silence after that, punctuated by much giggling and whispered conversation within a few groups of people, Lavi and Allen looked at each other with embarrassed grins. And just to complete the scene, there was a crackling over the public announcement system, then a smooth voice broke into their clearing.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. We are glad to have had you with us today. Please take note that we will be closing in thirty minutes. We hope you had a wonderful time with us today, and will visit **The ****White ****Ark** again." _

In the lively music that followed, Mana coughed and took Maria's hand. "Allen?"

Allen smiled at Mana. "Yes, dad?"

"I'll meet you at the entrance in thirty minutes. You do want to get home by car, don't you?"

Allen nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"Okay, well," Mana nodded and Maria smiled at Allen once more. "We'll be off, then. Goodnight, Lavi."

"Ah, right!" Lavi grinned. "Goodnight, sir."

"It really was a pleasure," Maria said fondly, before she turned and left with Mana, the two of them meandering back to where the main street was, presumably to take a slow walk back to the entrance.

Fou cleared her throat. "Right, let's go, Bak."

Bak jumped. "Uh, yeah, I'll see you around, Walker, Lavi?"

"Yeah," Lavi grinned at the nervous man. "Good luck, Mr. Chang."

"What do you mean by that, red?" Fou snorted. "I'll see you in school, Walker." With a tug at his arm, Fou dragged Bak down the same path Mana and Maria took.

Then, catching onto what they were up to, Doug grinned at Lavi and nodded in the general direction of the carnival's exit, silently indicating that he and Kanda – well, at least he would, Kanda remained an unknown – would be waiting for them to head back to the dorms together.

Lenalee by then had a firm grasp on Kanda's arm, and Komui seemed to agree that there was bit of catching up for them to do. Lou Fa, Ri Kei and Shi Fu simply smiled and walked down the path, with Lou Fa's eyes softening when she looked at Allen. And finally, finally, the two of them were left truly alone in the clearing, the carnival lights starting to give barely enough light to the area.

"Well," Lavi started.

"Well…that was…"

"Eventful?"

Allen chuckled. "You could say that again."

"Did you…" Lavi gestured vaguely. Allen somehow caught his meaning.

"No, I didn't expect that at all…how did we not notice them?"

"We were too blind to everything else except each other?"

"Lavi," Allen groaned and shook his head, a smile pulling at his lips. "You can't actually say things like that in real life."

"What, you mean I can't make 'did you fall from heaven' jokes?" Lavi said and laughed when Allen groaned again.

"You definitely can't. You will surrender to me your stash of romance novels."

"I will," Lavi said firmly. Allen looked shocked.

"I meant that as a joke. You will?"

"Yeah, because I have something better than fantasy now."

"Lavi!" Allen felt his insides die a little at the corny line. "Stop, alright, just…"

"Alright," Lavi whispered. Allen swallowed at the sudden change in tone. "Take two, okay?"

With a shaky turn, Lavi was facing Allen once more, both their hearts beating fast. Lavi took Allen's hands in his again, the two of them looking down and blushing a little, very aware of the silence now that they weren't driven on by momentum. Then, determined, Lavi leaned their foreheads against each other, and at that move, Allen gulped and closed his eyes in anticipation. Lavi licked his lips, praying that they weren't too chapped to scare Allen off but well, there they were.

And when they finally kissed, it was, well…

Allen certainly felt his heart beat faster, and Lavi did as well. To Lavi's amusement, while he definitely did not see fireworks exploding in his mind's eye, he did feel something rather like butterflies in his stomach as he pressed his lips against Allen's. They were kinda…dry, and warm, and a little weird with how soft it was, but.

Allen pulled away and looked at Lavi. Then he laughed a little.

"Again?"

"That was kinda unimpressive, huh? Still, I like it. Again."

This time, when they kissed again, they moved their lips a little bit, experimentally, Lavi daring to lick at Allen's lips. And when their tongues touched, with a little bit too much saliva and the two of them tasting much too much like the sandwiches they ate for dinner, Allen still felt his heart jump a little and he pressed closer to Lavi.

They pulled away, but still remained standing close to each other. Lavi smiled.

"Again?"

"I'm sure we'll be better this time," Allen said with a grin.

And so again, and again, and again.

* * *

**Notes:**

Um, I don't think there's any excuse for how long it took to update. This had been written since a while back. There were confidence issues in the way. Until I went, "Ah, what the heck, I'm happy with this, let's finish it." :)

So, this is the end of Carnival Days :) I really did hope and wish that there was a carnival fic for this pairing, and in the end, while it may not be that good, I'm glad I fulfilled the wish myself by writing it.

Thank you so much to those who never gave up on me and waited for this final chapter. I'm very happy to have brought smiles to your faces! I'm thinking of working on a universe that expands from this into a full blown high school fic, if I can finish my two other main WIPs. Yes, no, maybe? If you're interested, I hope you check it out whenever I do get to post it. And if you're not, I really hope that you enjoyed this fic at any rate!

I loved reading every single review that came in. Keep them coming in, they are much loved! I hope you had as much fun on this journey as I did! Bye, Allen and Lavi, have a great time smooching and getting to know one another! Your player will quietly switch off the stage lights now…


End file.
